Well after about 8 years of operation having been started by York Pullman, the Unibus 44 service finally bows out thus closing the book on York's long-running 'bus war' along the university corridor. The service started off to meet the requirements from the University of York of having a regular bus service to serve the Heslington East campus which at the time was being built and only had one or possibly two completed buildings which were in use - the university had contacted First York at the time on several occasions but the company had been unwilling to extend route 4 beyond Heslington Hall as it would require an extra vehicle to run on the then-branded 'FTR' route which have have meant obtaining another Wright Streetcar (even though at the time one which had originally been trialled in York had been down at Luton and wasn't required so easily could have been brought back up north).

 

As First wouldn't entertain the idea of serving Heslington East, the university contacted York Pullman and a deal was struck for a new service every 20 minutes between Merchantgate and the new campus where a turning circle was provided outside what is now the Ron Cooke Hub - the route was numbered 44 as if to compliment the 4 running along the same route, but the 44 was operated under a subsidy from the University over a deal of several years whereby the subsidy would decrease as passenger numbers increased with the eventual hope of the service being commercially viable in its own right. As time went on the passenger loadings on the 44 grew and so did the route to reflect this, extending first to the rail station and Nunnery Lane with then some journeys running right through to Acomb... and whilst Pullman had run a variety of vehicles on the service (including both an ex-Weardale low floor Ikarus bodied Daf SB220 and a step entrance version, a Scania Wright Solar, a BMC Condor) the time came in 2010 to have a dedicated fleet of vehicles and so a number of Olympians received conservative branding and the route name 'Unibus' - a single Leyland Olympian from Preston joined the fleet along with a single ex-Dublin Volvo Olympian and two ex-Lothian volvo examples; BUT at the same time Pullman purchased two brand new ADL Enviro 200's built on MAN chassis to make up a full contingent of vehicles to operate the increased length and frequency of the 44, whilst a Plaxton primo was purchased for a new aspect of the contract which was a free campus-to-campus shuttle bus service called the Ub1.

 

Pullman had been operating the 44 for some time in addition to other subsidised bus services around York, but a decision was made that in early 2012 all stagecarriage operations would be sold along with a number of vehicles in order to focus on schools and private hire work - this saw all such operations sold to Transdev York along with the full Unibus fleet; the vehicles stayed in York Pullman livery but received a simple vinyl overlay to cover the York Pullman logo with the Transdev York white rose logo, but vehicles route and frequency remained the same - though there was a brief period whereby some 44 services were extended beyond the university to Stamford Bridge however this was short-lived.

 

To reflect the changing requirements of the students, the university made it clear they wanted to see an increasing amount of buses being used with step-free access for the 44 route, and so Transdev introduced two ex-London Plaxton Presidents to the service which were later joined by two ex-Lancashire examples - these replaced Olympians on the route and at the same time introduced everybody to a whole new look for the Unibus. The buses were presented in a smart cream and indigo livery with a fade-out graphic to seperate the two colours vertically whilst a "looney tunes" style skyline graphic of York was used along the skirts to seperate the colours horizontally, whilst the university mascot of a duck also appeared on the buses. Shortly after introducing the double deckers, the two Enviro's purchased from Pullman went to the paint shop and gained the new branding identity whilst the Plaxton Primo gained a controversial pink graffitti livery - though the Primo only lasted about a year with Transdev before being exported to New Zealand due to it being non-standard.

 

Popularity of the Unibus grew ever-further and so the university required route frequency to increase, and so three Volvo B10BLE Wright Renown single deckers joined the fleet - these had been new to Yorkshire Coastliner and so to see them back in York was somewhat pleasing. At the time though there were increasing occurances whereby maintenance schedules or breakdowns meant a non-branded vehicle or two were appearing on the 44 and the university weren't pleased... as a result, Transdev brought across another Renown (1051) from lancashire which was 'officially' referred to as being in a dual-purpose livery - even though everybody else could see it as just being a half-arsed paint job that wasn't finished, as it had the base colours of the Unibus livery minus the blue sweep under the windscreen nor any of the graphics (just a simple white sticker with the new-style Transdev logo and a corny corporate motto)... eventually this did receive the full livery minus the bluue sweep under the windscreen. In addition to the 44 and the Ub1, the contract with the university also saw Transdev run an early-morning service from the university to the hospital one-way only (Hb1) as well as overnight services during term time for students wishing to go clubbing (Cb2) or for access to the university library for pre-exam study (SS1).... the Cb2 had been operated by York Pullman previously on select weekdays, whilst a Cb1 route had also been registered and operated by them on other days of the week.

 

Everything changed in 2015 however, when the Unibus contract had come up for re-tender and the new contract was awarded to First York - which was in a strange way surprising and yet not surprising all at the same time, as everybody knew First York strongly despised having subsidised competition to and from the university, and so it was an easy guess that First would put in an incredibly strong bid for the uni contract. It had been considered that Transdev would be gracious in defeat and quietly withdraw the 44 service so that the route and number could pass over to the new incumbent; however that didn't happen and instead Transdev registered the 44 route commercially with a slight route alteration due to no longer being authorised to run buses along Lakeside Way and so would have to terminate at the Heslington East interchange near Badger Hill, the route which First's number 4 had been doing for some time prior to winning the uni contract. The other change for the 44 Unibus was the streamlining of the fleet: all four double deckers left York for pastures new (Keighley) whilst the Enviro's went to the paint shop again to receive the white rose livery applied to buses being used elsewhere in the York operation, and the 4 Renowns were then joined by Renowns 1054, 1059 and 1076 and all were given a mildly revised livery which had all aspects to denote a partnership with the university having been removed.... all 7 vehicles were then refurbished with new seating, new interior panelling, free wi-fi and USB chargers. Online, Transdev started a questionable social media campaign to try and assert that they were the better service provider and that even though others were 'copying' the Unibus there would only ever be... ahem... "only one unibus". The commercially-run 44 could not offer the same high frequency of every 7-8 minutes being offered by First, but that didn't stop Transdev from arranging their timetables to arrive at key stops about 3 minutes before the First service, and likewise the 44 would be timed to wait around at city centre stops such as the rail station and merchantgate so as to try and draw as many passengers as possible on board. Likewise the university required First York to run the 66 as a 24-hour operation during term time with services overnight for students having a night out in the city centre, with the overnight services running once an hour - Transdev got wind of this and registered the 44 to also run 24 hours a day, with the hourly overnight services just so happening to depart from the city centre on the opposite side of the hour to First's service. This 24-hour service didn't last long however, but when Transdev launched the York-Leeds Cityzap limited stop service the decision was made to extend friday/saturday late night services arriving into York at 3am and 4am to go beyond the city centre to the university - the service was timed as such with the one simple hope that the zap service would arrive at the rail station and more importantly into merchantgate before the overnight First service so as to abstract passengers away. This didn't really work either and so that ploy was eventually dropped and so for the last few months the Unibus 44 has simply been plodding along with a regular 15-minute service between the uni and the city with every other service extended under subsidy from the council to Acomb via Holly Bank to replace the 13A service which First York had withdrawn.

 

Just over 6 weeks ago the announcement was made that at the end of the winter university term the unibus 44 service would cease, though the 44 between the city centre and acomb would continue as a standalone operation - the company statement made was along the lines that "other operators copying our service" had caused the unibus to no longer be viable, though it is very much worth noting that the person who first devised the 44 route with York Pullman is the same person who arranged First York's 66 service which officially replaced the 44. The very last day of the Unibus was December 3rd 2016, and here at Morell Library on central campus is B10BLE Renown B10YKS... it is fitting for this to be one of the last two unibus vehicles I photograph on the route, as this was the first Unibus renown I got a photo of when it arrived in the city under its original registration of YD02 UMV having been new to Yorkshire Coastliner.

AAA came to my house last Monday to see if my battery needed to be replace. My car wouldn't start. My battery was three years and 3 months old. It did need replacing. The life expectancy is about two years, so my old one did well.

I was impressed with this Midtronics test unit which evaluated the entire electrical system in my 1996 Toyota Carola.. Everything checked out fine. Only the battery needed to be replaced. The service guy replaced it on the spot. It should last another three years, plus or minus.

I am also entitled to a free servicing at a specific auto service center nearby. I love Triple A!!

_____________________________________

A similar tester online:

 

An expanded vision of the electrical system brings an expanded horizon to your business

The EXP-1000 InTellect EXP Battery Charging System Tester marks the next generation of handheld analyzers. So revolutionary, it makes other electrical system diagnostic tools obsolete. Allowing you to diagnose every part of the electrical system, from the battery to the starter and alternator, more accurately and decisively than ever before.

This platform combines one of the largest, easiest-to-read displays in the industry with the full functions of an advanced analyzer, digital multimeter, and data management tool... all in the palm of your hand.

  

Features:

 

New Dynamic Conductance

Battery Testing Technology - Combines direct temperature measurement with deep scan technology to improve accuracy and decisiveness

Advanced electrical system diagnostics featuring Digital Signal Processing - Digital Signal Processing (DSP) creates a digitized picture of the measured alternator output voltage to analyze the amplitude level and frequency of the diode ripple pattern for improved accuracy and identification of open or shorted diodes and open phase conditions, (multiple diode failure or winding problems)

Enhanced starter testing - Fully diagnoses all parts of the starting system including current draw, starting time and circuit resistance

Temperature measurement compensation for improved decision making

Complete multimeter functionality with scope mode

Tests 6 and 12 volt batteries, 12 volt charging systems

DMM Function for Advanced Diagnostics:

AC/DC Volts

Temperature

AC/DC Amps

Ohm meter

Diode test

Scope mode

Volts/Amps mode

Patented Conductance Cable Drop Test - Interactive routines using dual cable sets for more effective analysis of voltage drop across ground circuit, starter system, alternator system, and generic system testing

Enhanced Communications Capabilities -IR printer option, Data card reader/writer for future upgrades

Superior User Interface

Large backlit graphical screen and icon-based user interface make diagnostics simple for the novice and experienced electrical technician

Alphanumeric keypad, arrow key scrolling and hot keys make the EXP-1000 as easy to use as a remote control or cell phone

Specifications:

 

Applications: Tests 6 and 12 volt batteries (including AGM, AGM Spiral and GEL batteries); 12 & 24 volt starting and charging systems

Power Requirements: (6) AA Alkaline batteries

Operating Range: 6 and 12 volt batteries

Test Leads: 305 cm / 10ft. cable with dual conductor Kelvin clamps

Housing Material: ABS plastic with Santoprene overmolds

Dimensions: 23 cm x 10.2 cm x 6.5 cm (9.5 in x 4 in x 2.5 in)

Carrying Case: Heavy–duty molded plastic

Languages: 24 Languages

Rating System Range: DIN 100–1000; EN 100–3000; IEC 100–1000; JIS By Part Number; SAE 100–3000

Display: 128 x 64 pixel graphics, backlit display

Temperature Compensation: Built–in temperature measurement when prompted by analyzer

Operating Temperature: 0-deg. C – 49-deg. C (32-deg. F – 120-deg. F)

 

WARRANTY: 1-Year Limited

 

Parked up in Ardrossan Depot having been replaced on Arran is SPT owned Wrightbus Streetlite 39004 - SN15AAO.

 

Replacing an earlier scanned 6"x4" print with a better version 02-Oct-21 (DeNoise AI). Taken through glass with some reflections.

 

This aircraft was delivered to JAT Jugoslovenski Aerotransport as YU-ANV in Mar-88. It was wet-leased to Travel Service Airlines Hungary between Jun/Oct-01, then wet-leased to Macedonian Airlines between Nov-01/Mar-02.

 

In Aug-03 the airline was renamed JAT Airways. In Nov-04 the aircraft was wet-leased to Aerocontractors (Nigeria), returning to JAT in Oct-05. In Jan-06 it was wet-leased to Bellview Airlines (Nigeria) and returned to JAT in Mar-07. The aircraft was wet-leased to Air Ivoire and returned to JAT in May-09.

 

After Etihad Airways took a major investment in the company, JAT Airways was renamed Air Serbia in Oct-13. After 26 years in service the aircraft was permanently retired at Belgrade in Apr-14.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 26-Aug-16, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 12-Nov-24.

 

This is what you call 'a history'... Delivered to British Airways as G-BHBR in May-81, this aircraft was immediately leased to British Airways' charter subsidiary, British Airtours, for the summer season, returning to British Airways in Dec-81.

 

It was leased to British Airtours again between May/Sep-85. The aircraft was wet-leased to Kuwait Airways in Jun-92 and returned to British Airways in Oct-92 when it was stored at Cambridge, UK.

 

Marshall's of Cambridge Aerospace bought it in Jul-94 and sold it to Kalitta American International Airways the same day as N103CK. It underwent it's freighter conversion with Marshalls (who also converted all the Tristars bought by the UK Royal Air Force) and was delivered to Kalitta in Oct-95.

 

American International Airways was renamed Kitty Hawk International in Feb-99 and the aircraft was stored at Mojave, CA, USA in May-00. In Sep-01 the aircraft was sold to Triland 1 Inc and moved to Victorville, CA, USA for further storage.

 

It was re-registered V2-LFQ (Antigua) in Apr-02 and leased to Caribjet in Oct-02. It was returned to Triland 1 Inc in Mar-03 and was stored at Dusseldorf, Germany. In Oct-03 the aircraft was sold to Star Air and re-registered in Sierra Leone as 9L-LDZ.

 

In Jan-05 it was sold to Sky Eyes Cargo and stored at U-Tapao, Thailand. It was re-registered HS-SEC in Jan-06 and remained stored. The aircraft appears to have spent more time in storage than it did flying between 2006/2008. It was impounded at Sharjah, UAE in Oct-08.

 

In May-09 it was sold to a Swiss company, Air One Corporation and ferried along the coast to Ras Al Khaimah the same month. As far as I'm aware, it never flew again. It was seen stored at Ras Al Khaimah in Nov-11 with the red part of the above livery painted blue with a red/blue tail and large 'Cargo' titles.

 

I understand it was sold to Sky Star FZC of the UAE in Jan-13 and re-registered N212AR in Mar-13. I'm assuming it ended it's days at Ras Al Khaimah soon after 2013. According to the FAA Register, N212AR was cancelled in Dec-14 with the reason for cancellation given as 'Exported to Kyrgyzstan' !!!

"This won't hurt at all, Mr. President"

 

Worker replaces the tip of the index finger on the statue of Abraham Lincoln in front of the DC Court of Appeals.

Replacing the original digital photo with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 02-May-26.

 

First flown with the Boeing test registration N1786B, this aircraft was delivered to GECAS and leased to Travel Service Airlines, Czech Republic as OK-TVT in Jan-12.

 

It was regularly wet-leased to Sunwing Airlines, Canada, between Feb/May-12, Oct-12/May-13, Dec-14/May-15 and Dec-15/May-16. On its return in May-16 the aircraft was retro fitted with 'Split Scimitar' winglets.

 

In Jul-16 it was wet-leased to El Al Israel Airlines and returned to Travel Service Airlines in Sep-16. It was wet-leased to Mega Global Air Services, Maldives in late Sep-16 and returned in Mar-17.

 

The aircraft was wet-leased to Swift Air, USA in Dec-17 and returned to Travel Service in Apr-18. It was transferred to Travel Service subsidiary SmartWings Airlines in Dec-18. In early Jan-20 it was leased to Sunwing Airlines again, however, the COVID-19 Pandemic hit the world in Mar-20 and the aircraft was returned to SmartWings early.

 

It ferried from Toronto to Roatan, Honduras to repatriate passengers to Czechia. It returned via Cancun, Mexico; Halifax, NS, Canada and Keflavik, Iceland into Prague. At the end of Mar-20 it made another trans Atlantic trip to Lima, Peru to repatriate more passengers back to Prague via Cancun and the same routing as the previous journey.

 

The aircraft was due for wet-lease to SpiceJet India in 2021 but that was cancelled. In Apr-24 it was wet-leased to Eurowings, Germany for the summer season, returning to SmartWings in Oct-24. The wet-lease to Eurowings was repeated in Apr-25 and the aircraft is due to return to SmartWings in Oct-25. Updated 17-Jun-25,

Origins

1938 Talbot-Lago T-150 CSS. Body by Carrosserie Marcel Pourtout, designer Georges Paulin

1937 Talbot Lago T150 SS. Teardrop Coupe bodywork by Figoni & Falaschi

Launched at the 1937 Paris Motor Show, the 13 CV Talbot Minor broadened the range, taking Talbot into four-cylinder territory where the 2323 cc Minor competed with equivalent models from Hotchkiss and Salmson.

 

The Anglo-French STD (Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq) combine collapsed in 1935. The French Talbot company was acquired and reorganised by Venetian-born engineer Antonio Lago (1893–1960) and after that, the "Talbot-Lago" name was used internationally. On the home market the cars still bore the Talbot badge that they had carried since 1922, which was when, in France, the "Talbot-Darracq" name had given way to "Talbot".

 

At the same time, the British interests of Talbot were taken over by the Rootes Group and the parallel use of the Talbot brand in France and Britain ended. Talbot-Lago cars sold in Britain were now to be badged as Darracqs.

Reorganisation under Tony Lago

 

For 1935, the existing range continued in production but from 1936 these were steadily replaced with cars designed by Walter Becchia, featuring transverse leaf sprung independent suspension. These included the 4-cylinder 2323 cc (13CV) Talbot Type T4 "Minor", a surprise introduction at the 1937 Paris Motor Show, and the 6-cylinder 2,696 cc (15CV) Talbot "Cadette-15", along with and the 6-cylinder 2,996 cc or 3,996 cc (17 or 23CV) Talbot "Major" and its long-wheelbase version, the Talbot "Master": these were classified as Touring cars (voitures de tourisme).[1]

 

There was also in the second half of the 1930s a range of Sporting cars (voitures de sport) which started with the Talbot "Baby-15", mechanically the same as the "Cadette-15" but using a shorter slightly lighter chassis. The Sporting Cars range centred on the 6-cylinder 2,996 cc or 3,996 cc (17 or 23CV) Talbot "Baby" and also included the 3,996 cc (23CV) 23 and sporting Lago-Spéciale and Lago-SS models, respectively with two and three carburettors, and corresponding increases in power and performance.[1] The most frequently specified body for the Lago-SS was built by Figoni et Falaschi and featured a particularly eye-catching aerodynamic form.[2]

 

Lago was an excellent engineer who developed the existing six-cylinder engine into a high-performance 4-litre one. The sporting six-cylinder models had a great racing history. The bodies—such as of T150 coupé—were made by excellent coachbuilders such as Figoni et Falaschi or Saoutchik.

Talbot-Lago models 1935–1940

 

Although the proliferation of cars types and model names that followed Lago's acquisition of the business is at first glance bewildering, it actually involved only four standard chassis lengths as follows:

 

Short Châssis (2,950 mm (116.1 in) wheelbase):

 

Minor T4 (4 cylinders, 2323 cc)

Junior 11

Baby-15 (6 cylinders, 2696 cc)

Baby 3 litres (6 cylinders, 2996 cc)

T150 3 litres (6 cylinders, 2996 cc)

Baby 4 litres (6 cylinders, 3996 cc)

Lago Spécial (6 cylinders, 3996 cc with twin or triple carbs)

 

Extra short Châssis (2,650 mm (104.3 in) wheelbase):

 

Lago SS (6 cylinders, 3996 cc with triple carbs)

 

Normal Châssis (3,200 mm (126.0 in) wheelbase):

 

Cadette-15 (6 cylinders, 2696 cc)

Major 3 litres (6 cylinders, 2996 cc)

Major 4 litres (6 cylinders, 3996 cc)

 

Long (7-seater) Châssis (3,450 mm (135.8 in) wheelbase):

 

Master 3 litres (6 cylinders, 2996 cc)

Master 4 litres (6 cylinders, 3996 cc)

 

During the early years of the war the Walter Becchia left Talbot to work for Citroen, but Lago was joined in 1942 by another exceptional engineer, Carlo Machetti, and from then the two of them were working on the twin camshaft 4483 cc six-cylinder unit that would lie at the heart of the 1946 Talbot T26.

After World War II

 

After the war, the company continued to be known both for successful high-performance racing cars and for large luxurious passenger cars, with extensive sharing of chassis and engine components between the two. Nevertheless, the period was one of economic stagnation and financial stringency. The company had difficulty finding customers, and its finances were stretched.[3]

 

In 1946, the company began production of a new engine design, based on earlier units but with a new cylinder head featuring a twin overhead camshaft. This engine, designed under the leadership of Carlo Marchetti,[4] was in many respects a new engine. A 4483 cc six-cylinder in-line engine was developed for the Talbot Lago Record (1946–1952) and for the Talbot Grand Sport 26CV (1947–1954). These cars were priced against large luxurious cars from the likes of Delahaye, Delage, Hotchkiss and Salmson. Talbot would remain in the auto-making business for longer than any of these others, and the Talbot name had the further dubious distinction of a resurrection in the early 1980s.[4]

Talbot Lago Record T26

Talbot-Lago T26 "Record" ca. 1948

Main article: Talbot Lago Record

 

The Talbot Lago Record T26 was a large car with a fiscal horsepower of 26 CV and a claimed actual power output of 170 hp, delivered to the rear wheels via a four-speed manual gear box, with the option at extra cost of a Wilson pre-selector gear box, and supporting a claimed top speed of 170 km/h (105 mph). The car was commonly sold as a stylish four-door sedan, but a two-door cabriolet was also offered. There were also coachbuilt specials with bodywork by traditionalist firms such as Graber.[4]

Talbot Lago Grand Sport T26

1950 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport, coachwork by Jacques Saoutchik, Paris

 

The T26 Grand Sport (GS) was first displayed in public in October 1947 as a shortened chassis,[5] and only 12 were made during 1948 which was the models's first full year of production.[6] The car was noted for its speed. The engine which produced 170 hp in the Lago Record was adapted to provide 190 bhp (140 kW) or, later, 195 bhp (145 kW) in the GS, and a top speed of around 200 km/h (124 mph) was claimed, depending on the body that was fitted.[4] The car was built for either racing or luxury and benefited directly from Talbot's successful T26C Grand Prix car. As such it was expensive, rare and helped Louis Rosier with his son to win the LeMans 24 Hour race in 1950. The GS replaced the Lago-Record chassis which was named for its remarkable top speed. The GS was one of the world's most powerful production cars at the time. It had several special features from the T26 Grand Prix cars, such as a 4.5-litre inline-6 aluminum cylinder head, a hollowed camshaft, multiport exhaust system and triple carburetors.[7] Chassis details were similar to the Grand Prix cars, but it was longer and wider. It came it two wheelbase lengths -104 and 110 inches (2,800 mm).

 

Almost all the Talbots sold during the late 1940s came with Talbot bodies, constructed in the manufacturer's extensive workshops. The T26 Grand Sport (GS) was the exception, however, and cars were delivered only as bare chassis, requiring customers to choose bespoke bodywork from a specialist coachbuilder.[6] The GS was a star turn in a dull world and coachbuilders such as Saoutchik, Franay, Oblin, and Figoni et Falaschi competed to trump Talbot's own designers with elaborately elegant bodies.[4]

Talbot Lago Baby

Main article: Talbot Baby

 

The Talbot Lago Baby (1948–1951) marked the return of a pre-war Talbot model name and was the third model presented by the company during the 1940s. The car was commonly sold as a four-door sedan, but a two-door cabriolet was also offered. Its engine comprised only four cylinders, but the twin overhead camshaft with cylinder valves on both sides of the engine block was again featured:[4] at 2690 cc the engine capacity equated to a fiscal horsepower of 15 CV[3] which was enough to attract the punitive levels of car tax applied by the French government to large cars. The power output was initially 110 bhp (82 kW), which in 1949 was increased to 120 bhp (89 kW).[4] Although the postwar Baby sedan closely resembled the more powerful Record on a brief glance, the Baby's 2,950 mm wheelbase was slightly shorter than the 3130 mm wheelbase of the Record, and the overall length was correspondingly 200 mm shorter, reflecting the shortened 4-cylinder engine block.[4] Additionally the cheaper car sat on a simplified suspension set-up. Baby customers could specify as an option a Wilson pre-selector gear box.[4]

 

Talbot Lago manufactured three special made seven-seater presidential cars one for the President of France, one for the President of Tunisia and one for the Royal family in Saudi.

Talbot-Lago T26C

1948 Talbot-Lago T26C

 

The T26C was a single-seater racing car with a box section chassis, an unsupercharged 4.5 litre straight six engine and a four speed Wilson preselector gearbox.[8] Chassis and gearbox were derived from the company's 1930s racing cars and were similar to those used on their post-war road cars.[8]

 

The T26C made its racing debut in the 1948 Monaco Grand Prix, finishing second in the hands of Louis Chiron.[8] Grand Prix victories were achieved the following year with Louis Rosier winning the 1949 Belgian Grand Prix [9] and Louis Chiron winning the 1949 French Grand Prix.[10] A modified two-seat version won the 1950 24 Hours of Le Mans driven by Louis Rosier and Jean-Louis Rosier.[8]

New bodies for 1952

 

In 1951, as rumours of the company’s financial difficulties intensified, a new Ponton format body appeared for the Talbot Baby and Record.[4] The wheelbases were carried over from the earlier models. Although in many ways strikingly modern, the new car featured a two piece front windscreen in place of the single flat screen of its predecessor, presumably reflecting the difficulties at the time of combining the strength of a windscreen with curved glass at an acceptable price and quality. The new car’s large rear window was itself replaced by a larger three-piece “panoramic” wrap around back window as part of the car’s first face-lift, which took place in time for the 1952 Paris Motor Show.[3] The engine specification of the four-cylinder unit was unchanged as was the claimed performance even though the new body was some 100 kg heavier than the old. A new development with the Ponton-bodied cars body was the availability of the larger six-cylinder unit from the Talbot Record in the top of the line Talbot Baby, which in this form was called the Talbot Baby/6 Luxe, and had the slightly longer wheel-base and overall length enforced by the greater length of the six-cylinder engine.[4]

T14 LS engine / Talbot Lago Sport

Main article: Talbot Lago Sport

1956 Talbot-Lago T14 LS

 

At the 1954 Salon de L'Automobile de Paris, Talbot-Lago presented their last new engine: the new four-cylinder still had the typical twin laterally mounted camshafts, although it was upgraded to five main bearings. The new 120 PS (88 kW) 2,491 cc engine was called the T14 LS, but it did not have a car to go in until May 1955 when the Talbot-Lago 2500 Coupé T14 LS was finally presented.[11] The first car had all-aluminium bodywork, but later cars used more steel. 54 of these coupés were built, but they proved hard to sell - the stylish bodywork couldn't quite hide the thirties' underpinnings, and the rough engine offered little elasticity nor longevity.[12]

 

Lacking the resources to engineer the necessary improvements, for 1957 Talbot-Lago had to resort to buying in an engine. They chose the V8 2580 cc made available by BMW, albeit with the bore diameter slightly reduced, to 72.5 mm, which gave rise to a 2476 cc engine displacement, positioning the car (just) within the 14CV car tax band.[13] Reflecting the company's export plans, Talbot now rebranded the car as the "Talbot Lago America" and (finally) came into line with other French automakers by placing the driver on the left side of the car.[13] Unfortunately market response remained lukewarm, however, and only about a dozen of the BMW powered Talbot Lago Americas were produced.[13] It was now, in the early summer of 1958, that Tony Lago decided to accept an offer from Simca president, Henri Pigozzi, for the sale of the Talbot brand to Simca.[13] The sale of the business went ahead in 1959.[14]

 

With the sale of the business to Simca, the new owners found themselves with a handful of the final Talbot Lago Americas which were awaiting engines.[15] There was now no question of Simca being permitted, or wishing, to produce cars with BMW engines, and the only solution available was to fit the last batch of cars with Simca's own 2351 cc V8.[4] This engine had its roots in 1930s Detroit, and was originally provided by Ford to give the (then) Ford Vedette produced by their French subsidiary a flavor of the driving experience offered by an unstressed US style V8 sedan.[15] It was by no stretch of the imagination an engine for a sports car, and even with a second carburetor produced only 95 bhp (71 kW), as against the 138 bhp (103 kW) of the BMW-engined cars from the previous year's production.[15] Claimed top speed was now 165 km/h (103 mph) in place of the 200 km/h (124 mph) listed the previous year.[15] At the 1959 Paris Motor Show a stand had been booked for what was by now the Simca-Talbot brand, but a late decision was taken not to exhibit a Lago America and the stand was instead given up to a hastily constructed "motorshow special" prototype of which, after the motor show, nothing more would be heard.[15]

Commercial and financial

 

Sales data by model were kept confidential, possibly in connection with the company’s financial difficulties, but the overall totals for the early 1950s tell a dire story. The Suresnes plant produced 155 cars in 1947, an output which increased by 23 in 1948.[6] 433 cars were produced in 1950, but this then fell to 80 in 1951 and to 34 in 1952. In 1953 it is thought that the company turned out just 13 of the 26CV Record model and 4 of the 15 CV Babys.[3] During the rest of the decade volumes did not recover significantly; no more than 54 of the T14 LS were built in 1955 and 1956.[12]

 

As the company’s commercial trajectory implies, the years following the end of the war were marked by the slow financial collapse of Anthony Lago’s Talbot company. Other luxury automakers whose glory years had been the 1930s fared no better in the 1940s and 1950s than Talbot, with Delage, Delahaye, Hotchkiss and Bugatti disappearing from the car business while Panhard, nimbly if slightly improbably, reinvented itself as a manufacturer of small fuel efficient cars. Customers with enough money to spend on a luxury car were hard to find, and even among those with sufficient funds, in a country where well into the 1950s the Communists, buoyed by the heroic role played by some of their leaders during the years of Resistance, regularly polled 25% of the vote in national elections, there was little of the “live for today: pay later” spirit that had supported extravagant spending patterns in the 1930s. Government policy supported the austerity by creating a post-war tax regime that savagely penalised owners of cars with engines above two litres in size, and an Economic Plan, the Pons Plan,[6] which bestowed government favour (and allocations of materials still in short supply such as steel) on just five automakers, these being the businesses that became France’s big five automakers in the 1950s and early 60s. For France’s other luxury automakers, meanwhile, including Talbot, the tide had simply gone out.[3]

 

The money ran out, and Anthony Lago was obliged to seek court protection from his creditors, under a procedure known at that time as a ”Dépôt de bilan”. On 6 March 1951 the court agreed a debt moratorium which permitted a limited restart to production at the company’s Suresnes plant, but the affair provided unwelcome publicity for Talbot’s cash flow problems, and the company now experienced increased difficulty in obtaining credit. Production was also limited by the extent to which it had been necessary to cut the workforce, and by the reputational damage caused by reports of the whole process.[3]

 

The business staggered on till 1959, but never had the financial strength to support the development and production of its last model, the Talbot-Lago 2500 Coupé T14 LS, launched after a lengthy gestation in May 1955. In 1958 Lago decided to throw in the sponge and put the business up for sale. An offer was received from Henri Pigozzi under the terms of which the remains of the Talbot business would become part of Simca. In order to avoid bankruptcy, Lago agreed to sell the business on the terms proposed by the Simca president-director, a fellow Italian expatriate. Talbot-Lago was transferred to Simca in 1959.[14] Despite the sorry state of the Talbot business during the preceding ten years, commentators suggest that Pigozzi got a good bargain, receiving at Suresnes an industrial site and buildings worth many times the amount paid, along with a brand name that still resonated strongly with anyone old enough to remember the glory days of Talbot.[14]

 

Tony Lago died in 1960.[14]

Today

 

Talbot-Lagos have become a top-prized car at various auctions. A Figoni et Falaschi-bodied T150C SS Teardrop Coupe, owned by Brooks Stevens, would sell for US$3,535,000 at Christie's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance auction on Aug 18, 2005,[16] another for US$3,905,000 at the Palm Beach International Concours d'Elegance Gooding & Company auction on January 22, 2006 where it was unanimously voted "Best in Show",[17][18][19] and another for US$4,620,000 at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance RM Auctions Sports & Classics of Monterey auction on August 14, 2010.[20][21][22] A T150 C SS with a Pourtout Aerocoupé body, designed by Georges Paulin, sold for US$4,847,000 at the 2008 Bonhams & Butterfields Sale of Exceptional Motorcars and Automobilia at Quail Lodge.[23]

 

An unrestored 1948 T26 Grand Sport, with coachwork by Oblin and chassis #110106, is a part of the permanent collection of the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia, PA, USA.[7]

 

A 1949 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport Coupé by Saoutchik from the Baillon Collection sold for €1.450.000 at the Artcurial auction in February 2015.[24]

 

Even Talbot-Lagos with factory bodies, rather than custom coachwork, are highly valued; a factory-bodied 1939 T150 C SS selling in 2013 for US$418,000 at the Gooding & Company Scottsdale auction.[25]

Phicen Seamless body from VanHelsing figure, ScarJo head with added make-up and replaced hair piece.

Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 13-Aug-21 (DeNoiseAI).

 

First flown with the Airbus test registration F-WWDT, the aircraft was painted in full MenaJet livery as F-OKRN but the lease was cancelled. It was delivered to the CIT Leasing Corporation and leased to Aero Flight as D-ARFF in Apr-04. It was repainted in Aero Flight livery after delivery.

 

The aircraft was wet-leased to Germanwings for five days in Jul-05. Aero Flight ceased operations at the end of Oct-05, the aircraft was returned to the lessor and stored at Southend, UK.

 

It was leased to Air Astana (Kazakhstan) as P4-PAS in Feb-06 and returned to the lessor in Aug-13 when it was again stored at Southend. The aircraft was leased to Golden Myanmar Airlines as XY-AGT in Oct-13.

 

It was written off at Yangon, Myanmar on 14-Apr-14 when it was involved in a ground collision with A319-112 XY-AGR. The nose of the A320 rammed the right rear fuselage of the A319. There were no injuries and, supposedly, only minor damage to both aircraft. It was stored at Yangon.

 

It was noted still at Yangon in Sep-15 in a dirty white livery without engines and was next seen in early 2016 at the Shwe Pyi Resort, Bago, Myanmar, next to a restaurant !!

This makes me angry and sad. There have been empty promises about trees being "replaced" with "semi-mature trees" which will look really good in about 30 years time.... Shame on you|!

 

My guess is they'll be replaced with bus stop and cycle lane. Yay! Much more visually appealing.

 

It used to look like this in summer

www.flickr.com/photos/dullhunk/24455069344/

 

Now we can only console ourselves with CGI trees instead:

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-n...

Altadena, California, USA

 

Too big, too heavy... I replace my strobes profoto D1 kit by two Elinchrom Quadra Hybrid...

 

For this first test, I use the 39" deep octa on left screen, Westcott Illuminator Reflector 52″ white on right for fill shadow and a quadra with 7" reflector + 10 degree grid. For more easy auto-portait I use my laptop in tethering mode.

 

Press "L" to best view (specially with a Retina Display)

 

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Trop encombrant, trop lourd,... J'ai remplace mon Profoto D1 par deux Elinchrom Quadra Hybrid.

 

D'avantage de details sur mon blog.

 

Pour mes premiers test, j'ai disposé la deep octa 100 à gauche et un autre quadra avec le réflecteur 7" + une grille de 10 degres pour détaché le sujet du fond. Le réflecteur de 52" à droite pour remplir les ombres. Je ne me rappele plus des réglages de puissance, par contre j’étais sur la sortie B (puissance faible). Je n’ai pas encore de light-meter, donc j’ai chercher mes réglages par tâtonnement. J’ai utilisé mon portable en mode tethering pour faciliter l’auto-portrait. Aprés plus de 100 déclenchements, les batterie demeure encore presque intactes.

 

À regarder en mode plein écran avec la touche "L" (spécialement avec un écran Retina)

 

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Zion National Park is an American national park located in southwestern Utah near the town of Springdale. Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, the park has a unique geography and a variety of life zones that allow for unusual plant and animal diversity. Numerous plant species as well as 289 species of birds, 75 mammals (including 19 species of bat), and 32 reptiles inhabit the park's four life zones: desert, riparian, woodland, and coniferous forest. Zion National Park includes mountains, canyons, buttes, mesas, monoliths, rivers, slot canyons, and natural arches. The lowest point in the park is 3,666 ft (1,117 m) at Coalpits Wash and the highest peak is 8,726 ft (2,660 m) at Horse Ranch Mountain. A prominent feature of the 229-square-mile (590 km2) park is Zion Canyon, which is 15 miles (24 km) long and up to 2,640 ft (800 m) deep. The canyon walls are reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone eroded by the North Fork of the Virgin River.

 

Human habitation of the area started about 8,000 years ago with small family groups of Native Americans, one of which was the semi-nomadic Basketmaker Ancestral Puebloans (who used to be called Anasazi by early non-indigenous archeologists)(c. 300 CE). Subsequently, what has been called the Virgin Anasazi culture (c. 500) and the Parowan Fremont group developed as the Basketmakers settled in permanent communities. Both groups moved away by 1300 and were replaced by the Parrusits and several other Southern Paiute subtribes. Mormons came into the area in 1858 and settled there in the early 1860s.

 

In 1909, President William Howard Taft named the area Mukuntuweap National Monument in order to protect the canyon. In 1918, the acting director of the newly created National Park Service, Horace Albright, drafted a proposal to enlarge the existing monument and change the park's name to Zion National Monument, Zion being a term used by the Mormons. According to historian Hal Rothman: "The name change played to a prevalent bias of the time. Many believed that Spanish and Indian names would deter visitors who, if they could not pronounce the name of a place, might not bother to visit it. The new name, Zion, had greater appeal to an ethnocentric audience." On November 19, 1919, Congress redesignated the monument as Zion National Park, and the act was signed by President Woodrow Wilson. The Kolob section was proclaimed a separate Zion National Monument in 1937, but was incorporated into the national park in 1956. Congress designated 85% of the park a wilderness area in 2009.

 

The geology of the Zion and Kolob canyons area includes nine formations that together represent 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation. At various periods in that time warm, shallow seas, streams, ponds and lakes, vast deserts, and dry near-shore environments covered the area. Uplift associated with the creation of the Colorado Plateau lifted the region 10,000 feet (3,000 m) starting 13 million years ago.

 

As stated in the foundation document:

 

The purpose of Zion National Park is to preserve the dramatic geology including Zion Canyon and a labyrinth of deep and brilliantly colored Navajo sandstone canyons formed by extraordinary processes of erosion at the margin of the Colorado Plateau; to safeguard the park's wilderness character and its wild and scenic river values; to protect evidence of human history; and to provide for scientific research and the enjoyment and enlightenment of the public.

 

The park is located in southwestern Utah in Washington, Iron and Kane counties. Geomorphically, it is located on the Markagunt and Kolob plateaus, at the intersection of three North American geographic provinces: the Colorado Plateau, the Great Basin, and the Mojave Desert. The northern part of the park is known as the Kolob Canyons section and is accessible from Interstate 15, exit 40.

 

The 8,726-foot (2,660 m) summit of Horse Ranch Mountain is the highest point in the park; the lowest point is the 3,666-foot (1,117 m) elevation of Coal Pits Wash, creating a relief of about 5,100 feet (1,600 m).

 

Streams in the area take rectangular paths because they follow jointing planes in the rocks. The stream gradient of the Virgin River, whose North Fork flows through Zion Canyon in the park, ranges from 50 to 80 feet per mile (9.5 to 15.2 m/km) (0.9–1.5%)—one of the steepest stream gradients in North America.

 

The road into Zion Canyon is 6 miles (9.7 km) long, ending at the Temple of Sinawava, which is named for the coyote god of the Paiute Indians. The canyon becomes more narrow near the Temple and a hiking trail continues to the mouth of The Narrows, a gorge only 20 feet (6 m) wide and up to 2,000 feet (610 m) tall. The Zion Canyon road is served by a free shuttle bus from early April to late October and by private vehicles the other months of the year. Other roads in Zion are open to private vehicles year-round.

 

The east side of the park is served by Zion-Mount Carmel Highway (SR-9), which passes through the Zion–Mount Carmel Tunnel and ends at US 89 at Mount Carmel Junction. Park features on the east side of the park include Checkerboard Mesa and The East Temple.

 

The Kolob Terrace area, northwest of Zion Canyon, features a slot canyon called The Subway, and a panoramic view of the entire area from Lava Point. The Kolob Canyons section, further to the northwest near Cedar City, features Tucupit Point and one of the world's longest natural arches, Kolob Arch.

 

Other notable geographic features of Zion Canyon include Angels Landing, The Great White Throne, the Court of the Patriarchs, The Sentinel, The West Temple, Towers of the Virgin, the Altar of Sacrifice, The Watchman, Weeping Rock, and the Emerald Pools.

 

Spring weather is unpredictable, with stormy, wet days being common, mixed with occasional warm, sunny weather. Precipitation is normally heaviest in March. Spring wildflowers bloom from April through June, peaking in May. Fall days are usually clear and mild; nights are often cool. Summer days are hot (95 to 110 °F; 35 to 43 °C), but overnight lows are usually comfortable (65 to 70 °F; 18 to 21 °C). Afternoon thunderstorms are common from mid-July through mid-September. Storms may produce waterfalls as well as flash floods. Autumn tree-color displays begin in September in the high country; in Zion Canyon, autumn colors usually peak in late October. Winter in Zion Canyon is fairly mild. Winter storms bring rain or light snow to Zion Canyon and heavier snow to the higher elevations. Clear days may become quite warm, reaching 60 °F (16 °C); nights are often 20 to 40 °F (−7 to 4 °C). Winter storms can last several days and make roads icy. Zion roads are plowed, except the Kolob Terrace Road which is closed when covered with snow. Winter driving conditions last from November through March.

 

Archaeologists have divided the long span of Zion's human history into three cultural periods: the Archaic, Protohistoric and Historic periods. Each period is characterized by distinctive technological and social adaptations.

 

Archaic period

The first human presence in the region dates to 8,000 years ago when family groups camped where they could hunt or collect plants and seeds. About 2,000 years ago, some groups began growing corn and other crops, leading to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. Later groups in this period built permanent villages called pueblos. Archaeologists call this the Archaic period and it lasted until c. 500. Baskets, cordage nets, and yucca fiber sandals have been found and dated to this period. The Archaic toolkits included flaked stone knives, drills, and stemmed dart points. The dart points were attached to wooden shafts and propelled by throwing devices called atlatls.

 

By c. 300, some of the archaic groups developed into an early branch of seminomadic Anasazi, the Basketmakers. Basketmaker sites have grass- or stone-lined storage cists and shallow, partially underground dwellings called pithouses. They were hunters and gatherers who supplemented their diet with limited agriculture. Locally collected pine nuts were important for food and trade.

 

Both the Virgin Anasazi and the Parowan Fremont disappeared from the archaeological record of southwestern Utah by c. 1300. Extended droughts in the 11th and 12th centuries, interspersed with catastrophic flooding, may have made horticulture impossible in this arid region.

 

Tradition and archaeological evidence hold that their replacements were Numic-speaking cousins of the Virgin Anasazi, such as the Southern Paiute and Ute. The newcomers migrated on a seasonal basis up and down valleys in search of wild seeds and game animals. Some, particularly the Southern Paiute, also planted fields of corn, sunflowers, and squash to supplement their diet. These more sedentary groups made brownware vessels that were used for storage and cooking.

 

The Historic period begins in the late 18th century with the exploration of southern Utah by padre Silvestre Vélez de Escalante and padre Francisco Atanasio Domínguez. The padres passed near what is now the Kolob Canyons Visitor Center on October 13, 1776, becoming the first people of European descent known to visit the area. In 1825, trapper and trader Jedediah Smith explored some of the downstream areas while under contract with the American Fur Company.

 

In 1847, Mormon farmers from the Salt Lake area became the first people of European descent to settle the Virgin River region. In 1851, the Parowan and Cedar City areas were settled by Mormons who used the Kolob Canyons area for timber, and for grazing cattle, sheep, and horses. They prospected for mineral deposits, and diverted Kolob water to irrigate crops in the valley below. Mormon settlers named the area Kolob which in Mormon scripture is the heavenly place nearest the residence of God.

 

Settlements had expanded 30 miles (48 km) south to the lower Virgin River by 1858. That year, a Southern Paiute guide led young Mormon missionary and interpreter Nephi Johnson into the upper Virgin River area and Zion Canyon.[28] Johnson wrote a favorable report about the agricultural potential of the upper Virgin River basin, and returned later that year to found the town of Virgin. In 1861 or 1862, Joseph Black made the arduous journey to Zion Canyon and was very impressed by its beauty.

 

The floor of Zion Canyon was settled in 1863 by Isaac Behunin, who farmed corn, tobacco, and fruit trees. The Behunin family lived in Zion Canyon near the site of today's Zion Lodge during the summer, and wintered in Springdale. Behunin is credited with naming Zion, a reference to the place of peace mentioned in the Bible. Two more families settled Zion Canyon in the next couple of years, bringing with them cattle and other domesticated animals. The canyon floor was farmed until Zion became a Monument in 1909.

 

The Powell Geographic Expedition of 1869 entered the area after their first trip through the Grand Canyon. John Wesley Powell visited Zion Canyon in 1872 and named it Mukuntuweap, under the impression that that was the Paiute name. Powell Survey photographers John K. Hillers and James Fennemore first visited the Zion Canyon and Kolob Plateau region in the spring of 1872. Hillers returned in April 1873 to add more photographs to the "Virgin River Series" of photographs and stereographs. Hillers described wading the canyon for four days and nearly freezing to death to take his photographs.

 

Paintings of the canyon by Frederick S. Dellenbaugh were exhibited at the Saint Louis World's Fair in 1904, followed by a favorable article in Scribner's Magazine the next year. The article and paintings, along with previously created photographs, paintings, and reports, led to President William Howard Taft's proclamation on July 31, 1909, that created Mukuntuweap National Monument. In 1917, the acting director of the newly created National Park Service visited the canyon and proposed changing its name from the locally unpopular Mukuntuweap to Zion, a name used by the local Mormon community. The United States Congress added more land and established Zion National Park on November 19, 1919. A separate Zion National Monument, the Kolob Canyons area, was proclaimed on January 22, 1937, and was incorporated into the park on July 11, 1956.

 

Travel to the area before it was a national park was rare due to its remote location, lack of accommodations, and the absence of real roads in southern Utah. Old wagon roads were upgraded to the first automobile roads starting about 1910, and the road into Zion Canyon was built in 1917 leading to the Grotto, short of the present road that now ends at the Temple of Sinawava.

 

Touring cars could reach Zion Canyon by the summer of 1917. The first visitor lodging in Zion Canyon, called Wylie Camp, was established that same year as a tent camp. The Utah Parks Company, a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railroad, acquired Wylie Camp in 1923, and offered ten-day rail/bus tours to Zion, nearby Bryce Canyon, the Kaibab Plateau, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The Zion Lodge complex was built in 1925 at the site of the Wylie tent camp. Architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood designed the Zion Lodge in a rustic architectural style, while the Utah Parks Company funded the construction.

 

Work on the Zion Mount Carmel Highway started in 1927 to enable reliable access between Springdale and the east side of the park. The road opened in 1930 and park visit and travel in the area greatly increased. The most famous feature of the Zion – Mount Carmel Highway is its 1.1-mile (1.8 km) tunnel, which has six large windows cut through the massive sandstone cliff.

 

In 1896, local rancher John Winder improved the Native American footpath up Echo Canyon, which later became the East Rim Trail. Entrepreneur David Flanigan used this trail in 1900 to build cableworks that lowered lumber into Zion Canyon from Cable Mountain. More than 200,000 board feet (470 m3) of lumber were lowered by 1906. The auto road was extended to the Temple of Sinawava, and a trail built from there 1 mile (1.6 km) to the start of the Narrows. Angel's Landing Trail was constructed in 1926 and two suspension bridges were built over the Virgin River. Other trails were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930s.

 

Zion National Park has been featured in numerous films, including The Deadwood Coach (1924), Arizona Bound (1927), Nevada (1927), Ramrod (1947) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).

 

Zion Canyon Scenic Drive provides access to Zion Canyon. Traffic congestion in the narrow canyon was recognized as a major problem in the 1990s and a public transportation system using propane-powered shuttle buses was instituted in the year 2000. As part of its shuttle fleet, Zion has two electric trams each holding up to 36 passengers. Usually from early April through late October, the scenic drive in Zion Canyon is closed to private vehicles and visitors ride the shuttle buses. The National Park Service has contracted the management of the shuttle bus system to transit operator RATP Dev.

 

On April 12, 1995, heavy rains triggered a landslide that blocked the Virgin River in Zion Canyon. Over a period of two hours, the river carved away part of the only exit road from the canyon, trapping 450 guests and employees at the Zion Lodge. A one-lane, temporary road was constructed within 24 hours to allow evacuation of the Lodge. A more stable albeit temporary road was completed on May 25, 1995, to allow summer visitors to access the canyon. This road was replaced with a permanent road during the first half of 1996.

 

The Zion–Mount Carmel Highway can be travelled year-round. Access for oversized vehicles requires a special permit, and is limited to daytime hours, as traffic through the tunnel must be one way to accommodate large vehicles. The 5-mile (8.0 km)-long Kolob Canyons Road was built to provide access to the Kolob Canyons section of the park. This road often closes in the winter.

 

In March 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, which designated and further protected 124,406 acres (50,345 ha) of park land, about 85% of the park, as the Zion Wilderness.

 

In September 2015, flooding trapped a party of seven in Keyhole Canyon, a slot canyon in the park. The flash flood killed all seven members of the group, whose remains were located after a search lasting several days.

 

In 2017, some scenes from the TV series Extinct were shot in the park.

 

The nine known exposed geologic formations in Zion National Park are part of a super-sequence of rock units called the Grand Staircase. Together, these formations represent about 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation in that part of North America. The formations exposed in the Zion area were deposited as sediment in very different environments:

 

The warm, shallow (sometimes advancing or retreating) sea of the Kaibab and Moenkopi formations

Streams, ponds, and lakes of the Chinle, Moenave, and Kayenta formations

The vast desert of the Navajo and Temple Cap formations

The dry near-shore environment of the Carmel Formation

 

Uplift affected the entire region, known as the Colorado Plateaus, by slowly raising these formations more than 10,000 feet (3,000 m) higher than where they were deposited. This steepened the stream gradient of the ancestral Virgin and other rivers on the plateau.

 

The faster-moving streams took advantage of uplift-created joints in the rocks. Eventually, all Cenozoic-aged formations were removed and gorges were cut into the plateaus. Zion Canyon was cut by the North Fork of the Virgin River in this way. During the later part of this process, lava flows and cinder cones covered parts of the area.

 

High water volume in wet seasons does most of the downcutting in the main canyon. These flood events are responsible for transporting most of the 3 million short tons (2.7 million metric tons) of rock and sediment that the Virgin River transports yearly. The Virgin cuts away its canyon faster than its tributaries can cut away their own streambeds, so tributaries end in waterfalls from hanging valleys where they meet the Virgin. The valley between the peaks of the Twin Brothers is a notable example of a hanging valley in the canyon.

 

The Great Basin, Mojave Desert, and Colorado Plateau converge at Zion and the Kolob canyons. This, along with the varied topography of canyon–mesa country, differing soil types, and uneven water availability, provides diverse habitat for the equally diverse mix of plants and animals that live in the area. The park is home to 289 bird, 79 mammals, 28 reptiles, 7 fish, and 6 amphibian species. These organisms make their homes in one or more of four life zones found in the park: desert, riparian, woodland, and coniferous forest.

 

Desert conditions persist on canyon bottoms and rocky ledges away from perennial streams. Sagebrush, prickly pear cactus, and rabbitbrush, along with sacred datura and Indian paintbrush, are common. Utah penstemon and golden aster can also be found. Milkvetch and prince's plume are found in pockets of selenium-rich soils.

 

Common daytime animals include mule deer, rock squirrels, pinyon jays, and whiptail and collared lizards. Desert cottontails, jackrabbits, and Merriam's kangaroo rats come out at night. Cougars, bobcats, coyotes, badgers, gray foxes, and ring-tail cats are the top predators.

 

Cooler conditions persist at mid-elevation slopes, from 3,900 to 5,500 feet (1,200 to 1,700 m). Stunted forests of pinyon pine and juniper coexist here with manzanita shrubs, cliffrose, serviceberry, scrub oak, and yucca. Stands of ponderosa pine, Gambel oak, manzanita and aspen populate the mesas and cliffs above 6,000 feet (1,800 m).

 

Golden eagles, red-tailed hawks, peregrine falcons, and white-throated swifts can be seen in the area. Desert bighorn sheep were reintroduced in the park in 1973. California condors were reintroduced in the Arizona Strip and in 2014 the first successful breeding of condors in the park was confirmed. Nineteen species of bat also live in the area.

 

Boxelder, Fremont cottonwood, maple, and willow dominate riparian plant communities. Animals such as bank beavers, flannel-mouth suckers, gnatcatchers, dippers, canyon wrens, the virgin spinedace, and water striders all make their homes in the riparian zones.

 

Activities

Rangers at the visitor centers in Zion Canyon and Kolob Canyons can help visitors plan their stay. Guided horseback riding trips, nature walks, and evening programs are available from late March to early November. The Junior Ranger Program for children ages 4 and up is active year-round at the Nature Center, Human History Museum, and the visitor centers.[65] A bookstore attached to the Zion Canyon visitor center offers books, maps, and souvenirs. The Grotto in Zion Canyon, the visitor center, and the viewpoint at the end of Kolob Canyons Road have the only designated picnic sites.

 

Seven trails with round-trip times of half an hour (Weeping Rock) to 4 hours (Angels Landing) are found in Zion Canyon. Two popular trails, Taylor Creek (4 hours round trip) and Kolob Arch (8 hours round trip), are in the Kolob Canyons section of the park, near Cedar City. Hiking up into The Narrows from the Temple of Sinawava is popular in summer, but hiking beyond Big Springs requires a permit. The entire Narrows from Chamberlain's Ranch is a 16-mile one way trip that typically takes 12 hours of strenuous hiking. A shorter alternative is to enter the Narrows via Orderville Canyon. Both Orderville and the full Narrows require a back country permit. Entrance to the Parunuweap Canyon section of the park downstream of Labyrinth Falls is prohibited. Other often-used backcountry trails include the West Rim and LaVerkin Creek. The more primitive sections of Zion include the Kolob Terrace and the Kolob Canyons. A network of trails totaling 50 miles in distance connect Zion's northwest corner of the park (Lee Pass Trailhead) to its southeast section (East Rim Trailhead). Popularly known as the Zion Traverse, the route offers backpackers a diverse experience of the park.

 

Zion is a center for rock climbing, with short walls like Spaceshot, Moonlight Buttress, Prodigal Son, Ashtar Command, and Touchstone being the most popular, highly rated routes.

 

Lodging in the park is available at Zion Lodge, located halfway through Zion Canyon. Just outside the park more lodging is available in Springdale.

 

Zion has three campgrounds: South and Watchman at the far southern side of the park, and a primitive site at Lava Point in the middle of the park off Kolob Terrace Road. Overnight camping in the backcountry requires permits.

 

Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It borders Colorado to its east, Wyoming to its northeast, Idaho to its north, Arizona to its south, and Nevada to its west. Utah also touches a corner of New Mexico in the southeast. Of the fifty U.S. states, Utah is the 13th-largest by area; with a population over three million, it is the 30th-most-populous and 11th-least-densely populated. Urban development is mostly concentrated in two areas: the Wasatch Front in the north-central part of the state, which is home to roughly two-thirds of the population and includes the capital city, Salt Lake City; and Washington County in the southwest, with more than 180,000 residents. Most of the western half of Utah lies in the Great Basin.

 

Utah has been inhabited for thousands of years by various indigenous groups such as the ancient Puebloans, Navajo, and Ute. The Spanish were the first Europeans to arrive in the mid-16th century, though the region's difficult geography and harsh climate made it a peripheral part of New Spain and later Mexico. Even while it was Mexican territory, many of Utah's earliest settlers were American, particularly Mormons fleeing marginalization and persecution from the United States via the Mormon Trail. Following the Mexican–American War in 1848, the region was annexed by the U.S., becoming part of the Utah Territory, which included what is now Colorado and Nevada. Disputes between the dominant Mormon community and the federal government delayed Utah's admission as a state; only after the outlawing of polygamy was it admitted in 1896 as the 45th.

 

People from Utah are known as Utahns. Slightly over half of all Utahns are Mormons, the vast majority of whom are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), which has its world headquarters in Salt Lake City; Utah is the only state where a majority of the population belongs to a single church. A 2023 paper challenged this perception (claiming only 42% of Utahns are Mormons) however most statistics still show a majority of Utah residents belong to the LDS church; estimates from the LDS church suggests 60.68% of Utah's population belongs to the church whilst some sources put the number as high as 68%. The paper replied that membership count done by the LDS Church is too high for several reasons. The LDS Church greatly influences Utahn culture, politics, and daily life, though since the 1990s the state has become more religiously diverse as well as secular.

 

Utah has a highly diversified economy, with major sectors including transportation, education, information technology and research, government services, mining, multi-level marketing, and tourism. Utah has been one of the fastest growing states since 2000, with the 2020 U.S. census confirming the fastest population growth in the nation since 2010. St. George was the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States from 2000 to 2005. Utah ranks among the overall best states in metrics such as healthcare, governance, education, and infrastructure. It has the 12th-highest median average income and the least income inequality of any U.S. state. Over time and influenced by climate change, droughts in Utah have been increasing in frequency and severity, putting a further strain on Utah's water security and impacting the state's economy.

 

The History of Utah is an examination of the human history and social activity within the state of Utah located in the western United States.

 

Archaeological evidence dates the earliest habitation of humans in Utah to about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. Paleolithic people lived near the Great Basin's swamps and marshes, which had an abundance of fish, birds, and small game animals. Big game, including bison, mammoths and ground sloths, also were attracted to these water sources. Over the centuries, the mega-fauna died, this population was replaced by the Desert Archaic people, who sheltered in caves near the Great Salt Lake. Relying more on gathering than the previous Utah residents, their diet was mainly composed of cattails and other salt tolerant plants such as pickleweed, burro weed and sedge. Red meat appears to have been more of a luxury, although these people used nets and the atlatl to hunt water fowl, ducks, small animals and antelope. Artifacts include nets woven with plant fibers and rabbit skin, woven sandals, gaming sticks, and animal figures made from split-twigs. About 3,500 years ago, lake levels rose and the population of Desert Archaic people appears to have dramatically decreased. The Great Basin may have been almost unoccupied for 1,000 years.

 

The Fremont culture, named from sites near the Fremont River in Utah, lived in what is now north and western Utah and parts of Nevada, Idaho and Colorado from approximately 600 to 1300 AD. These people lived in areas close to water sources that had been previously occupied by the Desert Archaic people, and may have had some relationship with them. However, their use of new technologies define them as a distinct people. Fremont technologies include:

 

use of the bow and arrow while hunting,

building pithouse shelters,

growing maize and probably beans and squash,

building above ground granaries of adobe or stone,

creating and decorating low-fired pottery ware,

producing art, including jewelry and rock art such as petroglyphs and pictographs.

 

The ancient Puebloan culture, also known as the Anasazi, occupied territory adjacent to the Fremont. The ancestral Puebloan culture centered on the present-day Four Corners area of the Southwest United States, including the San Juan River region of Utah. Archaeologists debate when this distinct culture emerged, but cultural development seems to date from about the common era, about 500 years before the Fremont appeared. It is generally accepted that the cultural peak of these people was around the 1200 CE. Ancient Puebloan culture is known for well constructed pithouses and more elaborate adobe and masonry dwellings. They were excellent craftsmen, producing turquoise jewelry and fine pottery. The Puebloan culture was based on agriculture, and the people created and cultivated fields of maize, beans, and squash and domesticated turkeys. They designed and produced elaborate field terracing and irrigation systems. They also built structures, some known as kivas, apparently designed solely for cultural and religious rituals.

 

These two later cultures were roughly contemporaneous, and appear to have established trading relationships. They also shared enough cultural traits that archaeologists believe the cultures may have common roots in the early American Southwest. However, each remained culturally distinct throughout most of their existence. These two well established cultures appear to have been severely impacted by climatic change and perhaps by the incursion of new people in about 1200 CE. Over the next two centuries, the Fremont and ancient Pueblo people may have moved into the American southwest, finding new homes and farmlands in the river drainages of Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico.

 

In about 1200, Shoshonean speaking peoples entered Utah territory from the west. They may have originated in southern California and moved into the desert environment due to population pressure along the coast. They were an upland people with a hunting and gathering lifestyle utilizing roots and seeds, including the pinyon nut. They were also skillful fishermen, created pottery and raised some crops. When they first arrived in Utah, they lived as small family groups with little tribal organization. Four main Shoshonean peoples inhabited Utah country. The Shoshone in the north and northeast, the Gosiutes in the northwest, the Utes in the central and eastern parts of the region and the Southern Paiutes in the southwest. Initially, there seems to have been very little conflict between these groups.

 

In the early 16th century, the San Juan River basin in Utah's southeast also saw a new people, the Díne or Navajo, part of a greater group of plains Athabaskan speakers moved into the Southwest from the Great Plains. In addition to the Navajo, this language group contained people that were later known as Apaches, including the Lipan, Jicarilla, and Mescalero Apaches.

 

Athabaskans were a hunting people who initially followed the bison, and were identified in 16th-century Spanish accounts as "dog nomads". The Athabaskans expanded their range throughout the 17th century, occupying areas the Pueblo peoples had abandoned during prior centuries. The Spanish first specifically mention the "Apachu de Nabajo" (Navaho) in the 1620s, referring to the people in the Chama valley region east of the San Juan River, and north west of Santa Fe. By the 1640s, the term Navaho was applied to these same people. Although the Navajo newcomers established a generally peaceful trading and cultural exchange with the some modern Pueblo peoples to the south, they experienced intermittent warfare with the Shoshonean peoples, particularly the Utes in eastern Utah and western Colorado.

 

At the time of European expansion, beginning with Spanish explorers traveling from Mexico, five distinct native peoples occupied territory within the Utah area: the Northern Shoshone, the Goshute, the Ute, the Paiute and the Navajo.

 

The Spanish explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado may have crossed into what is now southern Utah in 1540, when he was seeking the legendary Cíbola.

 

A group led by two Spanish Catholic priests—sometimes called the Domínguez–Escalante expedition—left Santa Fe in 1776, hoping to find a route to the California coast. The expedition traveled as far north as Utah Lake and encountered the native residents. All of what is now Utah was claimed by the Spanish Empire from the 1500s to 1821 as part of New Spain (later as the province Alta California); and subsequently claimed by Mexico from 1821 to 1848. However, Spain and Mexico had little permanent presence in, or control of, the region.

 

Fur trappers (also known as mountain men) including Jim Bridger, explored some regions of Utah in the early 19th century. The city of Provo was named for one such man, Étienne Provost, who visited the area in 1825. The city of Ogden, Utah is named for a brigade leader of the Hudson's Bay Company, Peter Skene Ogden who trapped in the Weber Valley. In 1846, a year before the arrival of members from the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints, the ill-fated Donner Party crossed through the Salt Lake valley late in the season, deciding not to stay the winter there but to continue forward to California, and beyond.

 

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as Mormon pioneers, first came to the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. At the time, the U.S. had already captured the Mexican territories of Alta California and New Mexico in the Mexican–American War and planned to keep them, but those territories, including the future state of Utah, officially became United States territory upon the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848. The treaty was ratified by the United States Senate on March 10, 1848.

 

Upon arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, the Mormon pioneers found no permanent settlement of Indians. Other areas along the Wasatch Range were occupied at the time of settlement by the Northwestern Shoshone and adjacent areas by other bands of Shoshone such as the Gosiute. The Northwestern Shoshone lived in the valleys on the eastern shore of Great Salt Lake and in adjacent mountain valleys. Some years after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley Mormons, who went on to colonize many other areas of what is now Utah, were petitioned by Indians for recompense for land taken. The response of Heber C. Kimball, first counselor to Brigham Young, was that the land belonged to "our Father in Heaven and we expect to plow and plant it." A 1945 Supreme Court decision found that the land had been treated by the United States as public domain; no aboriginal title by the Northwestern Shoshone had been recognized by the United States or extinguished by treaty with the United States.

 

Upon arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, the Mormons had to make a place to live. They created irrigation systems, laid out farms, built houses, churches, and schools. Access to water was crucially important. Almost immediately, Brigham Young set out to identify and claim additional community sites. While it was difficult to find large areas in the Great Basin where water sources were dependable and growing seasons long enough to raise vitally important subsistence crops, satellite communities began to be formed.

 

Shortly after the first company arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, the community of Bountiful was settled to the north. In 1848, settlers moved into lands purchased from trapper Miles Goodyear in present-day Ogden. In 1849, Tooele and Provo were founded. Also that year, at the invitation of Ute chief Wakara, settlers moved into the Sanpete Valley in central Utah to establish the community of Manti. Fillmore, Utah, intended to be the capital of the new territory, was established in 1851. In 1855, missionary efforts aimed at western native cultures led to outposts in Fort Lemhi, Idaho, Las Vegas, Nevada and Elk Mountain in east-central Utah.

 

The experiences of returning members of the Mormon Battalion were also important in establishing new communities. On their journey west, the Mormon soldiers had identified dependable rivers and fertile river valleys in Colorado, Arizona and southern California. In addition, as the men traveled to rejoin their families in the Salt Lake Valley, they moved through southern Nevada and the eastern segments of southern Utah. Jefferson Hunt, a senior Mormon officer of the Battalion, actively searched for settlement sites, minerals, and other resources. His report encouraged 1851 settlement efforts in Iron County, near present-day Cedar City. These southern explorations eventually led to Mormon settlements in St. George, Utah, Las Vegas and San Bernardino, California, as well as communities in southern Arizona.

 

Prior to establishment of the Oregon and California trails and Mormon settlement, Indians native to the Salt Lake Valley and adjacent areas lived by hunting buffalo and other game, but also gathered grass seed from the bountiful grass of the area as well as roots such as those of the Indian Camas. By the time of settlement, indeed before 1840, the buffalo were gone from the valley, but hunting by settlers and grazing of cattle severely impacted the Indians in the area, and as settlement expanded into nearby river valleys and oases, indigenous tribes experienced increasing difficulty in gathering sufficient food. Brigham Young's counsel was to feed the hungry tribes, and that was done, but it was often not enough. These tensions formed the background to the Bear River massacre committed by California Militia stationed in Salt Lake City during the Civil War. The site of the massacre is just inside Preston, Idaho, but was generally thought to be within Utah at the time.

 

Statehood was petitioned for in 1849-50 using the name Deseret. The proposed State of Deseret would have been quite large, encompassing all of what is now Utah, and portions of Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, Arizona, Oregon, New Mexico and California. The name of Deseret was favored by the LDS leader Brigham Young as a symbol of industry and was derived from a reference in the Book of Mormon. The petition was rejected by Congress and Utah did not become a state until 1896, following the Utah Constitutional Convention of 1895.

 

In 1850, the Utah Territory was created with the Compromise of 1850, and Fillmore (named after President Fillmore) was designated the capital. In 1856, Salt Lake City replaced Fillmore as the territorial capital.

 

The first group of pioneers brought African slaves with them, making Utah the only place in the western United States to have African slavery. Three slaves, Green Flake, Hark Lay, and Oscar Crosby, came west with this first group in 1847. The settlers also began to purchase Indian slaves in the well-established Indian slave trade, as well as enslaving Indian prisoners of war. In 1850, 26 slaves were counted in Salt Lake County. Slavery didn't become officially recognized until 1852, when the Act in Relation to Service and the Act for the relief of Indian Slaves and Prisoners were passed. Slavery was repealed on June 19, 1862, when Congress prohibited slavery in all US territories.

 

Disputes between the Mormon inhabitants and the federal government intensified after the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' practice of polygamy became known. The polygamous practices of the Mormons, which were made public in 1854, would be one of the major reasons Utah was denied statehood until almost 50 years after the Mormons had entered the area.

 

After news of their polygamous practices spread, the members of the LDS Church were quickly viewed by some as un-American and rebellious. In 1857, after news of a possible rebellion spread, President James Buchanan sent troops on the Utah expedition to quell the growing unrest and to replace Brigham Young as territorial governor with Alfred Cumming. The expedition was also known as the Utah War.

 

As fear of invasion grew, Mormon settlers had convinced some Paiute Indians to aid in a Mormon-led attack on 120 immigrants from Arkansas under the guise of Indian aggression. The murder of these settlers became known as the Mountain Meadows massacre. The Mormon leadership had adopted a defensive posture that led to a ban on the selling of grain to outsiders in preparation for an impending war. This chafed pioneers traveling through the region, who were unable to purchase badly needed supplies. A disagreement between some of the Arkansas pioneers and the Mormons in Cedar City led to the secret planning of the massacre by a few Mormon leaders in the area. Some scholars debate the involvement of Brigham Young. Only one man, John D. Lee, was ever convicted of the murders, and he was executed at the massacre site.

 

Express riders had brought the news 1,000 miles from the Missouri River settlements to Salt Lake City within about two weeks of the army's beginning to march west. Fearing the worst as 2,500 troops (roughly 1/3rd of the army then) led by General Albert Sidney Johnston started west, Brigham Young ordered all residents of Salt Lake City and neighboring communities to prepare their homes for burning and evacuate southward to Utah Valley and southern Utah. Young also sent out a few units of the Nauvoo Legion (numbering roughly 8,000–10,000), to delay the army's advance. The majority he sent into the mountains to prepare defenses or south to prepare for a scorched earth retreat. Although some army wagon supply trains were captured and burned and herds of army horses and cattle run off no serious fighting occurred. Starting late and short on supplies, the United States Army camped during the bitter winter of 1857–58 near a burned out Fort Bridger in Wyoming. Through the negotiations between emissary Thomas L. Kane, Young, Cumming and Johnston, control of Utah territory was peacefully transferred to Cumming, who entered an eerily vacant Salt Lake City in the spring of 1858. By agreement with Young, Johnston established the army at Fort Floyd 40 miles away from Salt Lake City, to the southwest.

 

Salt Lake City was the last link of the First Transcontinental Telegraph, between Carson City, Nevada and Omaha, Nebraska completed in October 1861. Brigham Young, who had helped expedite construction, was among the first to send a message, along with Abraham Lincoln and other officials. Soon after the telegraph line was completed, the Deseret Telegraph Company built the Deseret line connecting the settlements in the territory with Salt Lake City and, by extension, the rest of the United States.

 

Because of the American Civil War, federal troops were pulled out of Utah Territory (and their fort auctioned off), leaving the territorial government in federal hands without army backing until General Patrick E. Connor arrived with the 3rd Regiment of California Volunteers in 1862. While in Utah, Connor and his troops soon became discontent with this assignment wanting to head to Virginia where the "real" fighting and glory was occurring. Connor established Fort Douglas just three miles (5 km) east of Salt Lake City and encouraged his bored and often idle soldiers to go out and explore for mineral deposits to bring more non-Mormons into the state. Minerals were discovered in Tooele County, and some miners began to come to the territory. Conner also solved the Shoshone Indian problem in Cache Valley Utah by luring the Shoshone into a midwinter confrontation on January 29, 1863. The armed conflict quickly turned into a rout, discipline among the soldiers broke down, and the Battle of Bear River is today usually referred to by historians as the Bear River Massacre. Between 200 and 400 Shoshone men, women and children were killed, as were 27 soldiers, with over 50 more soldiers wounded or suffering from frostbite.

 

Beginning in 1865, Utah's Black Hawk War developed into the deadliest conflict in the territory's history. Chief Antonga Black Hawk died in 1870, but fights continued to break out until additional federal troops were sent in to suppress the Ghost Dance of 1872. The war is unique among Indian Wars because it was a three-way conflict, with mounted Timpanogos Utes led by Antonga Black Hawk fighting federal and Utah local militia.

 

On May 10, 1869, the First transcontinental railroad was completed at Promontory Summit, north of the Great Salt Lake. The railroad brought increasing numbers of people into the state, and several influential businessmen made fortunes in the territory.

 

Main article: Latter Day Saint polygamy in the late-19th century

During the 1870s and 1880s, federal laws were passed and federal marshals assigned to enforce the laws against polygamy. In the 1890 Manifesto, the LDS Church leadership dropped its approval of polygamy citing divine revelation. When Utah applied for statehood again in 1895, it was accepted. Statehood was officially granted on January 4, 1896.

 

The Mormon issue made the situation for women the topic of nationwide controversy. In 1870 the Utah Territory, controlled by Mormons, gave women the right to vote. However, in 1887, Congress disenfranchised Utah women with the Edmunds–Tucker Act. In 1867–96, eastern activists promoted women's suffrage in Utah as an experiment, and as a way to eliminate polygamy. They were Presbyterians and other Protestants convinced that Mormonism was a non-Christian cult that grossly mistreated women. The Mormons promoted woman suffrage to counter the negative image of downtrodden Mormon women. With the 1890 Manifesto clearing the way for statehood, in 1895 Utah adopted a constitution restoring the right of women's suffrage. Congress admitted Utah as a state with that constitution in 1896.

 

Though less numerous than other intermountain states at the time, several lynching murders for alleged misdeeds occurred in Utah territory at the hand of vigilantes. Those documented include the following, with their ethnicity or national origin noted in parentheses if it was provided in the source:

 

William Torrington in Carson City (then a part of Utah territory), 1859

Thomas Coleman (Black man) in Salt Lake City, 1866

3 unidentified men at Wahsatch, winter of 1868

A Black man in Uintah, 1869

Charles A. Benson in Logan, 1873

Ah Sing (Chinese man) in Corinne, 1874

Thomas Forrest in St. George, 1880

William Harvey (Black man) in Salt Lake City, 1883

John Murphy in Park City, 1883

George Segal (Japanese man) in Ogden, 1884

Joseph Fisher in Eureka, 1886

Robert Marshall (Black man) in Castle Gate, 1925

Other lynchings in Utah territory include multiple instances of mass murder of Native American children, women, and men by White settlers including the Battle Creek massacre (1849), Provo River Massacre (1850), Nephi massacre (1853), and Circleville Massacre (1866).

 

Beginning in the early 20th century, with the establishment of such national parks as Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park, Utah began to become known for its natural beauty. Southern Utah became a popular filming spot for arid, rugged scenes, and such natural landmarks as Delicate Arch and "the Mittens" of Monument Valley are instantly recognizable to most national residents. During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, with the construction of the Interstate highway system, accessibility to the southern scenic areas was made easier.

 

Beginning in 1939, with the establishment of Alta Ski Area, Utah has become world-renowned for its skiing. The dry, powdery snow of the Wasatch Range is considered some of the best skiing in the world. Salt Lake City won the bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics in 1995, and this has served as a great boost to the economy. The ski resorts have increased in popularity, and many of the Olympic venues scattered across the Wasatch Front continue to be used for sporting events. This also spurred the development of the light-rail system in the Salt Lake Valley, known as TRAX, and the re-construction of the freeway system around the city.

 

During the late 20th century, the state grew quickly. In the 1970s, growth was phenomenal in the suburbs. Sandy was one of the fastest-growing cities in the country at that time, and West Valley City is the state's 2nd most populous city. Today, many areas of Utah are seeing phenomenal growth. Northern Davis, southern and western Salt Lake, Summit, eastern Tooele, Utah, Wasatch, and Washington counties are all growing very quickly. Transportation and urbanization are major issues in politics as development consumes agricultural land and wilderness areas.

 

In 2012, the State of Utah passed the Utah Transfer of Public Lands Act in an attempt to gain control over a substantial portion of federal land in the state from the federal government, based on language in the Utah Enabling Act of 1894. The State does not intend to use force or assert control by limiting access in an attempt to control the disputed lands, but does intend to use a multi-step process of education, negotiation, legislation, and if necessary, litigation as part of its multi-year effort to gain state or private control over the lands after 2014.

 

Utah families, like most Americans everywhere, did their utmost to assist in the war effort. Tires, meat, butter, sugar, fats, oils, coffee, shoes, boots, gasoline, canned fruits, vegetables, and soups were rationed on a national basis. The school day was shortened and bus routes were reduced to limit the number of resources used stateside and increase what could be sent to soldiers.

 

Geneva Steel was built to increase the steel production for America during World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had proposed opening a steel mill in Utah in 1936, but the idea was shelved after a couple of months. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States entered the war and the steel plant was put into progress. In April 1944, Geneva shipped its first order, which consisted of over 600 tons of steel plate. Geneva Steel also brought thousands of job opportunities to Utah. The positions were hard to fill as many of Utah's men were overseas fighting. Women began working, filling 25 percent of the jobs.

 

As a result of Utah's and Geneva Steels contribution during the war, several Liberty Ships were named in honor of Utah including the USS Joseph Smith, USS Brigham Young, USS Provo, and the USS Peter Skene Ogden.

 

One of the sectors of the beachhead of Normandy Landings was codenamed Utah Beach, and the amphibious landings at the beach were undertaken by United States Army troops.

 

It is estimated that 1,450 soldiers from Utah were killed in the war.

The yellow spandrels replaced, trees planted and the garage gone, the site looks quite different today goo.gl/maps/bCHe6jPneeeHs6wS8

 

CYMA Petroleum, founded in 1981 by Andreas Michaelides, supplied petrol stations across south-east England, particularly in north London, with some owned directly by the company. The business is now mainly an aviation fuel supplier www.cymapetroleum.co.uk/ —and at one point also supplied Lochshell Filling Station, very near Wick-John O'Groats airport in the far north of Scotland goo.gl/maps/FiQ4UKMmxZLmPDUj7

 

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 11-Mar-18, plus DeNoise AI 13-Jan-23.

 

Still in basic NWT Air livery with Air Bridge titles.

 

This aircraft was delivered to Western Airlines as N7143C, a L.188A, in May-61. It was converted to freighter configuration with a main deck cargo door in Mar-69.

 

The aircraft was sold to International Jetair Ltd as CF-IJV in Mar-71. It became C-FIJV at the end of May-74 when Canada introduced the C-Gxxx registration series. International Jetair was merged into Northwest Territorial Airways in 1976 and the company was later renamed NWT Air (North West Territories).

 

The aircraft was sold to Air Bridge Carriers in Mar-91 and re-registered G-FIJV in Aug-91. Air Bridge Carriers was renamed Hunting Cargo Airlines in Aug-92. It was re-registered EI-HCE in Apr-97. It was withdrawn from use and stored at East Midlands Airport (UK) in Jun-98.

 

The aircraft was sold to Atlantic Air Transport as G-FIJV in Sep-98. The aircraft was permanently retired at Coventry, UK in late 2006 and was finally broken up there in May-13.

Plaxton replaced the long running Paramount coach range in October 1991, when it launched the Premiere and Excalibur. The new Plaxton coach range cost £3.5 million to design and develope and were the first coaches to meet the new European R66 safety legiaslation, regarding roll over protection. The Paramount 4000 was the only version of the Paramount to remain in production. The Premiere was available in two heights: 320 (3.2-metres) and 350 (3.5-metres). The Premiere was built on Volvo, Dennis, DAF and Scania chassis. The Excalibur was Plaxton's flagship coach, available in one height: 3.5-metres and one length: 12-metres. At first the Excalibur could only be built the Volvo B10M, later it was built on the rear-engined Volvo B12T chassis and Dennis Javelin GX chassis. The Excalibur featured a raked back front windsreen, with the rest of the body structure was based on the Premiere. Some people say, that there was a hint of Duple styling about the Excalibur, this came about after Plaxton had bought the rights to Duple's coach range in 1989. Both the Premiere and Excalibur suffered from water leaks and other problems. Park's of Hamilton and Wallace Arnold had both taken the early production Premiere and Excalibur coaches and never bought any more for a number of years, in the case of Park's it was not until the latter part of the 90s that they purchased any more Plaxton coaches. In October 1999 Plaxton launched a new coach range the Paragon and Panther, thus replacing the Premiere and Excalibur, although both models did stay in production for a few more months, plus the Prima, based on the Premiere 320 stayed in production, until the Profile replaced. I was at Lymm Truck Stop yesterday and photographed this stunning Plaxton Excalibur Volvo B10M, owned by Coach Services of Gatley, Cheadle in Cheshire. The coach was new to Elcock Reisen of Telford, before Coach Services purchased it, Bullock's Coaches of Cheadle had owned it. The chassis is the MkIV B10M, this being the final version of the B10M. I got low down, to get this dramatic view of the Excalibur. It just shows what a nice livery, wheel trims and after market rear view mirrors can do for a coach. The owner told me, the coach had cost him £50,000 and looks the part, when parked alongside new £200,000 coaches.

1891

 

Blower’s Green Pumphouse was built to house the steam powered recirculating pump that replaced the earlier one on the Grazebrook Arm. The new pump raised water from the Level Pond to the Birmingham Level or Wolverhampton Level, or between the Birmingham and Wolverhampton levels.

 

www.dudleycanaltrust.org.uk/history-of-the-tunnels

 

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Blowers Green U-turn by C&RT?

1/2/2018 6 Comments

 

After finding it faced a united front of opposition from boating and canal organisations in Birmingham, Canal and River Trust may be about to make a U-turn on its plans to sell the freehold of the historic Blowers Green Pumphouse, as Peter Underwood reports.

 

C&RT's bid to sell the freehold was first spotted in early January when a tiny laminated notice- posted just as the Christmas break began - was seen near Blowers Green Pumphouse, in Dudley.​

 

The notice was a formal announcement that C&RT, as a Trustee of the Waterways Infrastructure Trust, was proposing to sell the freehold of the historic pumphouse and anyone with objections has just one month to put them in writing. Now it has withdrawn the building from sale and is considering giving up the idea of selling the freehold.

 

www.thefloater.org/the-floater-february-2018/blowers-gree...

  

Completed in 1910 to replace an older station on the same site, the station was Kuala Lumpur's railway hub in the city for the Federated Malay States Railways and Malayan Railway, before Kuala Lumpur Sentral Station assumed much of its role in 2001.

At a cost of $23,000, the station was completed and operational on August 1, 1910.

The station is located along a road named Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin, previously known as Victory Avenue.

Arthur Benison Hubback, a British Architectural Assistant to the Director of Public Works, undertook the design of the station. He incorporated the unique Anglo-Asian architecture in the region on the station's design. The "Neo-Moorish / Mughal / Indo-Saracenic / Neo-Saracenic" style was not uncommon at the time. Dominated by horseshoe and ogee arches, and large chhatris (six originally, with two added later) at the corners of the building accompanying smaller variations at the front, the station is comparable to the Sultan Abdul Samad Building and surrounding structures constructed around the Merdeka Square during the period.

Kuala Lumpur Railway Station initially consisted of a main terminal building at the front and three platforms serving four railway lines at the back.

 

After 17 years, Volkswagen replaced the original Type 2 van, with it's 1940s-style split-window front, with an updated version. The "Bay window" bus had many new elements (most notably, it did away with swing axles in the rear suspension), but at heart it was basically just a heavy revision. It would prove to be spectacularly long lived. Introduced in Europe and the U.S. for 1967, it finally went out of production in Brazil in 2013.

 

At the heart of that longevity was the basic practicality of the bus - configurable as a pickup, a cargo van, a camper, or a passenger van, the rugged air-cooled engines and simple components mean that in places where corrosion is uncommon, the T2 can basically run forever, and run cheaply, too.

 

In the U.S., the "chicken tax" import tariff curtailed sales of the commercial van and pickup variants - indeed, these were the very vehicles that tax was aimed at, but the camper and van remained very popular throughout the 1970s.

 

The "chicken tax" was the result of a trade dispute that took place in the early 1960s. American Industrial farming radically lowered the price of Chicken in the 1950s - like Oranges, Chicken was once a luxury and not something an ordinary person ate every day - and subsequently consumption of Chicken grew dramatically at home and abroad. European Farmers were negatively impacted by the cheap imported Chicken, and some in Europe objected to the farming methods. So tariffs were enacted on Chicken imports to France and Germany.

 

The United States was keen to get rid of those Tariffs - but for more than two years, no agreement could be found for how to make that happen. Finally, in late 1963 President Johnson enacted retaliatory tariffs on potato starch, dextrin, brandy, and light trucks. On paper, these targeted items were intended to "compensate" for the revenue lost on Chicken exports, but in reality they were the product of several back-room deals, including one dealing with the UAW and trucks.

 

Johnson wanted to avoid strikes and to garner big Union support for upcoming Civil Rights legislation. UAW President Walter Reuther wanted to curb VW imports. The result was that VW's relatively small truck business was targeted.

 

As a result, a 25% import tariff was levied on these vehicles, and that tariff remains in effect today. The dispute over Chicken was largely solved in short order - and all the other tariffs evaporated with it - except this one, which enjoyed continued lobbying support from Detroit. In time, Detroit manufacturers would use various methods of "captive importation" to get around this tariff, and Japanese manufacturers would build plants in the United States to do the same. Even VW would produce a pickup here in the early eighties - the Golf 1 based Caddy.

 

That the T2 should be linked to political events in the 1960s is appropriate, because even though the "Bay window" bus was produced long after the sixties ended, and most of them are from the seventies here in the United States, the bus is also deeply associated with American sixties counterculture. In many ways it was the opposite of a traditional American car, and even after the big three Detroit automakers introduced Forward-control vans in the early sixties, VW's passenger van sales were scarcely dented.

 

Nor did those vans have the staying power of the bus - surviving sixties Ford Econolines, Dodge A-series, and Chevrolet Vans are quite rare now, but the Bus is still and everyday sight in some parts of the United States.

 

In 1979, the old bus was replaced by the related, but heavily modernized, Vanagon, at least in the U.S. In Mexico and Brazil, production of the Bay window continued far longer, finally ending when the old machine could no longer be made emissions compliant after 2013. By that time, emissions laws had forced VW do Brasil to convert the Kombi to a water-cooled engine, among other changes, but it looked just like the good old T2.

 

©2015 A. Kwanten.

Replacing an earlier photo from Mar-19 with a better version.

 

Named: "Freising".

 

First flown with the Airbus test registration D-AVVA, this aircraft was delivered to Lufthansa in Aug-18. Current, updated 12-Apr-25.

Late 1941 ad for Studebaker trucks. These same trucks would be built after WWII until replaced by the "R" series.

Scotney Castle is an English country house with formal gardens south-east of Lamberhurst in the valley of the River Bewl in Kent, England. It belongs to the National Trust.

 

The gardens, which are a celebrated example of the Picturesque style, are open to the public. The central feature is the ruins of a medieval, moated manor house, Scotney Old Castle, which is on an island on a small lake. The lake is surrounded by sloping, wooded gardens with fine collections of rhododendrons, azaleas and kalmia for spring colour, summer wisteria and roses, and spectacular autumn colour.

 

At the top of the garden stands a house which was built to replace the Old Castle between 1835 and 1843. This is known as Scotney New Castle, or simply Scotney Castle, and was designed by Anthony Salvin. It is an early, and unusually restrained, example of Tudor Revival architectural style in 19th century Britain. Following the death of the resident, Elizabeth Hussey, in 2006, this house was opened to the public for the first time on 6 June 2007

Philadelphia, PA, est. 1682; pop. 1,567,442 (metro 6MM)

 

• built in 1740 • earliest known photograph is dated 1859 — bldg. was then 119 yrs. old [photo] • Georgian-Colonial trinity aka "bandbox" design • typically, trinity houses had 1 room per floor & were built facing each other in rows of 4 identical bldgs. • in addition to the room on each floor, this house had a walkable attic room & a cellar

 

• served as both business & residence for shopkeepers & artisans for over 150 yrs. • among the occupants in the 18th c. were a shoemaker, apothecary & an upholsterer named Betsy Ross, who is said to have sewn the first American flag in this building • estimates of when & how long she lived here have her arriving in 1773 at the earliest & departing as late as 1791

 

• over time the house changed in appearance [photos] as neighborhood houses were razed & replaced w/larger commercial buildings —Where's Betsy

 

Betsy Ross

 

• Elizabeth "Betsy" Griscom (1752-1836) was a fourth-generation American • daughter of Samuel Griscom (1717-1793) & Rebecca James (c. 1730-1793) • the 8th of their 17 children • great granddaughter of Andrew Griscom (c. 1654-1694), a Quaker carpenter who migrated from England to New Jersey in 1680, 1 yr. before William Penn founded Philadelphia

 

"She often laughed at the curious fact that she was born on the first day of the week, the first day of the month, the first day of the year, and the first year of the 'new style' [which was] the dividing line between the old way of measuring the years time and the new method under the [Gregorian calendar… She was also] the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter." —C.B. Satterthwaite, great grandson, The Des Moines Register, 07 Jan, 1906

 

• at age 3 Betsy's family moved to a large home at 4th & Arch Sts. • went to a Friends (Quaker) public school • 8 of her siblings died before adulthood • lost her mother, father & sister, Deborah, to the 1793 yellow fever epidemic

 

• upon completion of her schooling at age 12, her father apprenticed her to upholsterer John Webster • fell in love with fellow apprentice John Ross (1752-1773), son of an Episcopal asst. rector at Christ Church • defying her parents, in 1773 Betsy, age 21, eloped w/John

 

• Betsy's sister Sarah & her husband Capt. Wm. Donaldson rowed the couple across the Delaware River, heading 5 miles downstream to Gloucestertown, NJ • they were married at family friend William Hugg Jr.'s tavern & inn, known locally as Hugg's …more: The New Jersey Hugg Line

 

• because her marriage to a non-Quaker was considered an act of "disorderly and undutiful conduct," Betsy was split from her family & read out of meeting, i.e., disowned by her Quaker community • became a member of Christ Church • the Ross's pew No. 12 [photo] was adjacent to Martha & George Washington's No. 56 & not far from Deborah & Benjamin Franklin's No. 70

 

• the newlyweds — now trained upholsterers — opened their own business • c. 1773 they rented a house, probably at what is today 239 Arch St. although the exact site is still debated by historians • most records point to this house or one next door at No. 241, long since razed

 

"The identity of the location was always preserved in the family, which agrees with the records in the old Philadelphia directories… from 1785, the first published, to the removal of Betsy Ross and her husband from 239 Arch Street, in 1791" —Betsy Ross grandson George Canby, New York Times, 05 July, 1908

 

• Benjamin Franklin & Benjamin Chew were among the Rosses' customers • business slowed during the Revolutionary War as fabric was in short supply • John Ross joined the Pennsylvania militia • mid-Jan., 1776, he was gravely wounded by a powder explosion at a Delaware River ammunition cache, apparently while standing guard • Betsy nursed him in their home, but he died within days

 

• in June, 1777, Betsy married girlhood suitor Joseph Ashburn, a privateer who commanded the sailing sloop Swallow • the couple had 2 daughters • the 1st, Aucilla ("Zillah"), died in infancy

 

• British troops entered Philadelphia on 26 Sep., 1777 after their victory at the Battle of Brandywine • the Ashburn home was forcibly shared with British occupation soldiers as the Continental Army suffered through the killing winter at Valley Forge • the British soldiers nicknamed Betsy "Little Rebel" —US History•org

 

• Betsy was pregnant with Elizabeth ("Eliza") when Joseph accepted a job offer & shipped out as first mate on the 6-gun brigantine, Patty • returned to be present for the Feb., 1781 birth of their 2nd daughter

 

• Joseph became master of the 18-gun Lion & took her to sea late in the summer of 1781 • on 31 Aug., his ship was captured off the coast of France by a 44-gun British frigate, the HMS Prudente

 

• prior to March, 1782, the British refused to designate captured rebels as prisoners of war, thus the captives from the Lion were viewed as traitors, charged with high treason & committed to Plymouth, England's Mill Prison [images] • while incarcerated, Ashburn met fellow prisoner John Claypoole, a longtime friend of the Ross family

 

• Claypoole, a Continental Army vet, had been wounded at Germantown & consequently discharged • in 1781 he signed on to man the 18-gun Pennsylvania privateer Chevalier de la Luzerne & was captured in April • in the spring of 1782 Ashburn died in prison, leaving Betsy a 2-time war widow at age 30 —Betsy Ross and the Making of America

 

"In the Night of the 3d of March Mr Joseph Ashburn departed this life after an illness of about a week which he bore with amazing fortitude & resignation" —John Claypoole, Mill Prison

 

"The story goes that Ashburn, while in Mill Prison, often talked with John Claypoole about his wife, Betty*, and at his death sent farewell messages by him to her. Claypoole, on his arrival in Philadelphia, hastened to deliver these messages, and inside of eight months he married her." —John Claypoole's Memorandum-Book *Betsy is referred to as "Betty" in some 18th, 19th & early 20th c. books & media

 

• in 1782 Claypoole returned to Philadelphia, called on Betsy & married her the following year • gave up his seafaring career to join her at the Arch St. upholstery shop • though renamed "John Claypoole, upholsterer," to customers the shop remained Betsy's place • the couple had 5 daughters: Clarissa, Susanna, Rachel, Jane & Harriet, who died at 9 months • sometime after Susanna's birth in 1786, the Claypooles moved from Arch St. to a larger house on 2nd

 

• Betsy returned to her Quaker roots, albeit with the Free (Fighting) Quakers, a group exiled from the main Quaker community when their support for the Revolution was ruled a violation of the faith's peace testimony • the couple became members c. 1785 • image: Betsy Claypoole signature taken from the Meeting House roster

 

• it is widely believed that when the Free Quaker Meeting House shut down in 1834, it was its last attending members — Elizabeth Claypoole & Samuel Wetherill — who closed the doors

 

• in 1817, after a long illness, John Claypoole died • Betsy never remarried • after retiring, she moved to the home of her daughter, Susanna • she died on 30 Jan, 1836, age 84

 

The American Flags

 

"Flags were a rare sight on land in the British North American colonies," —Wooden Teachout, Capture the Flag: A Political History of American Patriotism

 

• American flags were seldom used in parades or displayed by private citizens • colors were flown mainly in battle, over government institutions & on ships, where they were essential to identifying other vessels & determining friend or foe

 

• this changed after America's 1876 Centennial Exposition, which explains why "flags made prior to the Civil War are extremely rare, and flags made before 1820 are practically nonexistent." —Jeff R. Bridgeman, Stars and Stripes, Early American Life, Aug. 2011

 

• with the onset of the Revolutionary War, a flag for the "United Colonies" was created without the sanction of the Continental Congress • this 1775 flag was known as the Continental Colors, aka Grand Union, Congress Flag, Cambridge Flag

 

• on 2 Dec., 1775, the 1st Continental Colors flag was hand sewn by milliner Margaret Manny, who had begun making flags & ensigns the previous year

 

"Everyone knows about Betsy Ross, why do we know nothing about Margaret Manny? Probably for no better reason than that she had fewer articulate friends and relatives to build a story around her." —historian Barbara Tuchman, The First Salute

 

• the Continental Colors had 13 alternating red & white stripes with the British Union crosses in the canton • was created to replace the use of individual colony flags • prior to the Declaration of Independence, it was probably the most used unofficial flag of the revolution • American Flag Timeline

 

• the inclusion of the British Jack in the design signals that this flag was intended not for a civil war of secession, but rather a crusade to secure the American colonists' rights as Englishman • prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Gen. George Washington, still hoping for reconciliation with Mother England, would occasionally toast the King —The Forgotten Flag of the American Revolution and What It Means

 

• on 3 Dec, 1775, the new flag was raised by 1st Lt. John Paul Jones (1747-1792) on the 30-gun Continental Navy frigate USS Alfred [painting], the 1st national ensign to fly on an American fighting vessel —Naval History Blog

 

• the flag later flew over the signing of the Declaration of Independence & according to tradition (contested by some scholars), it was raised on a ship's mast atop Charlestown's Prospect Hill [painting] during Washington's 1 Jan., 1776 siege of Boston

 

• spotting the hybrid British/American flag for the first time, confused British observers took it as a signal of submission: “By this time, I presume, they begin to think it strange that we have not made a formal surrender of our lines,” Washington wrote • his psychological weaponry also included an early form of war propaganda

 

• absent a single government-mandated flag design, a variety of others were used • within a yr. after Prospect hill, the Continental Colors' Union Jack was replaced by a blue field w/13 white stars in various arrangements, e.g., rows, or possibly a circle?

 

• on 14 June, 1777, now celebrated as Flag Day, the American Flag was born by resolution of the Continental Congress, the country’s 1st flag law • during the Revolutionary period that followed, the stars on most American flags were arranged in rows of 4-5-4 with the number of points on most stars ranging from 4 to 8 • compared to the Continental Colors, the rows of stars made it easier to identify the flag/ship/nationality at sea —The 13 Stars & Stripes

 

The Story

 

• about a year before the Flag Resolution of 1777 Betsy Ross, 5-months a widow & struggling to make a ends meet, is said to have received a visit from a Continental Congress flag committee (apparently a secret one as there are no records of its existence)

 

• according to the well known Betsy Ross story, in late May of 1776 (but possibly 1777) 3 heroes of the revolution — George Ross, the uncle of Betsy's late husband, financier/slave trader Robert Morris & Betsy's pew neighbor Gen. George Washington [portraits] — called on her to discuss a flag for the new nation

 

• Rachel Fletcher (Betsy's daughter) recalled that "…she was previously well acquainted with Washington, and that he had often been in her house in friendly visits, as well as on business. That she had embroidered ruffles for his shirt bosoms and cuffs, and that it was partly owing to his friendship for her that she was chosen to make the flag." —Rachel's affidavit

 

• as told by Betsy, Gen. Washington, then head of the Continental Army, showed her a rough design of a flag with 6-pointed stars • she offered suggestions for modifications & stated a preference for 5-pointed stars • when her visitors expressed concern over the difficulty of producing them, she replied, "Nothing easier," which she then proved by cutting a 5-pointed star in a single snip • video: Make a perfect star with ONE cut! (1:15) • Two Conundrums Concerning the Betsy Ross Five-Pointed Star

 

• changes approved, Washington redrew the flag w/a pencil • Betsy's friend & collaborator William Barrett, a Cherry St. ornamental painter created a water color copy of the drawing for her to work from • 1-2 other seamstresses sewed alternate designs for the committee, but only Betsy's was approved & used

 

• what is known today as the "Betsy Ross flag" has 13 red & white stripes & a ring of 13, white 5-pointed stars • though the design may have been in use by 1777, vexillologists believe that between 1777-1795, (the yrs. the official flag had 13 stars) most flags displayed stars in rows, which are easier to produce than a circle

 

• None of the surviving flags from the 18th century exhibit the Betsy Ross pattern • however a few examples are depicted in the art of the era (although period art is notoriously unreliable for flag research)

 

• the flag depicted in Chas. Willson Peale's 1779 George Washington at the Battle of Princeton is generally considered credible & "may be the only evidence in a painting… that suggests that a circle-pattern flag may have existed in colonial times… Otherwise, you won't see an American flag with a perfect circle of stars made before the 1890s." —Jeff R. Bridgeman, loc. cit.13 Stars in the Betsy Ross Pattern • historically significant the American flags [images]

 

• though known as an upholsterer, there is no doubt that Betsy made flags, having sewn pennants & ensigns for the Pennsylvania State Navy Board (as did Margaret Manning & Rebecca Young, whose daughter Mary Pickersgill would go on to sew the enormous flag that inspired the U.S. National Anthem, Francis Scott Key's The Star-Spangled Banner)

 

• a month before Congress passed the Flag Resolution, Betsy was paid 14 pounds, 12 shillings, 2 pence (~$2,300 in 2017 USD) for what must have been a prodigious quantity of Pennsylvania Navy flags • there is no hard evidence that any of these were American flags • "...today we are reasonably convinced that Betsy’s flag was a naval flag, with a simple ‘in line’ arrangement of the stars…" —John B. Harker, Historian & Betsy Ross descendent

 

• Betsy (Elizabeth Claypool) was now in the business of producing flags & ensigns for the federal govt. • throughout the Jefferson & Madison admins. the skilled needlewoman made flags as large as 18' x 24' for American military installations, with demand peaking during the War of 1812

 

• for the rest of her life she — in her words — "never knew what it was to want employment" • her oldest daughter, Clarissa Sidney Wilson (1785-1864) [portrait], succeeded her, supplying arsenals, navy yards & the mercantile marine with flags for years —Betsy Ross•org

 

"In the last years of her life, Ross was neither more nor less important than other aging women who had lived through the Revolution. That she became famous while others were forgotten exposes the interlocking power of family history, local memory, and national politics." —How Betsy Ross Became Famous by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Historian

 

The Legend

 

"…at a time of great historic import such as that time when the Declaration was signed, people have no leisure to think about the minor events which are taking place. Thus, during the revolution no one thought of Betsy Ross as a national heroine, and it was not, in fact until 1870 that William J. Canby (1825-1890) first brought the story of how the first flag was made into general prominence." —Dr. Lloyd Balderston, great-grandson of Betsy Ross, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 3 Jul, 1908

 

• there is no record of the the Betsy Ross story prior to 1870 • that year — 34 years after her death — Betsy's 45 yr. old grandson, a title processor named William Jackson Canby, presented a paper titled The History of the Flag of the United States to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania • the document, accompanied by sworn affidavits, was an oral history passed on by descendants of Betsy Ross, including Canby himself who was 11 yrs. old when she died • …more: The Evolution of the American Flag by (Betsy Ross descendants) George Canby (1829-1907), Lloyd Balderston, Ph.D (1863-1933)

 

• the story was largely ignored until it was mentioned in historian George Henry Preble's 1872 book Our Flag & appeared in the July, 1873 Harper's Monthly [illustration] • with Civil War wounds slowly healing & the 1876 centennial celebration fast approaching, Betsy Ross & the flag entered American consciousness • in the 1880's her story began to appear in textbooks • by the mid 1890s it was often illustrated by an engraving of The Birth of Our Nation’s Flag, an 1893 painting by Charles H. Weisgerber (1856-1932)

 

• oral tradition has it that in 1892 Weisgerber, a 36 yr. old aspiring artist, was bent on winning a forthcoming art competition • walking along Arch St., he noticed a plaque at No. 239 which identified the bldg. as the site where Betsy Ross sewed the 1st American flag

 

• inspired, Weisgerber envisioned a scene of Betsy & the 1st flag set in her shop • to fill in details of the story, characters & setting, he drew on period portraits, the testimony of living descendants & the 22 yr. old Canby paper

 

• with no authentic image of Betsy in existence (according to her relatives), Weisgerber painted a composite taken from images of 4 of her daughters & a granddaughter who was said to closely resemble her • the resulting portrait was critiqued by relatives who had known her & modified accordingly • Weisgerber then created a massive 9' x 12' painting • portrayed the young Widow Ross, saintly matriarch of a new nation, as she presents the 1st American flag to 3 revered American patriarchs

 

• "the image was [said] …by Mrs. Ross' grandson, George Canby, to be the only correct likeness of [her]" — he was 7 yrs. old when Betsy Ross died —The Times (Philadelphia) 15 Jun 1893

 

• the flag depicted in the painting — with no evidence to support the authenticity of its design — has since been known as the "Betsy Ross flag," the standard for celebrating the U.S.A.'s birthday each 4th of July

 

The Apotheosis

 

• Weisgerber's painting won the $1,000 prize & in 1893 was showcased in the Pennsylvania Building at Chicago’s Columbian Exposition • seen by millions of visitors • contributed to the nascent reverence for Betsy Ross & the flag as sacred symbols of the emerging, quasi-religious American civil religion • politicians, patriotic societies & public sentiment propelled the flag's transformation into an object of veneration, its role expanding well beyond the customary military & govt. functions

 

On Flag Day, 1894, the Colonial Dames gathered 500 schoolchildren to honor “the adoption by Congress . . . of the flag made by Betsy Ross from the design submitted to her by Gen. Washington” • by 1895, 10 states had laws requiring public schools to display the flag on all school days — Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, loc. cit.

 

• in 1897 the City of New York bought thousands of lithographs of Weisgerber’s painting for its public schools: “It is thought that the representation which is declared historically correct, together with such lectures as the teachers may deliver, will add much to the pupil’s knowledge and keep alive a proper reverence for the country’s emblem.” —New York Times, 14 Feb, 1897

 

• in 1885, NYC school principal George T. Balch (1821-1908), a vet. of the Indian & Civil Wars, wrote Salute to the Flag, the U.S.A.'s first pledge of allegiance

 

"I give my hand and my heart to my country — one nation, one language, one flag."

 

• the heightened patriotism of the era inspired a movement to organize schoolyard flag raising ceremonies • the American Flag Assn. was founded in 1897 for the "fostering of public sentiment in favor of honoring the flag in our country and preserving it from desecration" • Natl. Flag Day was proclaimed in 1917

 

• Christian Socialist Francis Bellamy (1855-1931), who worked in the premium dept. of The Youth's Companion magazine, wrote a new U.S. Pledge of Allegiance (1892) for his employer • created as part of the magazine's campaign to sell American flags to public schools • goal was a flag in every classroom • 25,000 schools acquired flags the 1st yr. • though priced "at cost," banner sales proved profitable

 

• Bellamy also choreographed a salute — the "Bellamy Salute" — to accompany the pledge • because of its similarity to the Nazi heil it was replaced by a right-hand-over-heart gesture during World War II • another Youth's Companion employee, James Upham, headed a flag-centric project designed to engage public schools in the commemoration of the U.S.A.'s 1st Columbus Day (Oct. 1892)

 

The Verdict

 

• for nearly a century-and-a-half, historians have debated the available evidence in an attempt to prove that Betsy Ross either did or did not produce the 1st American flag: "There’s no good historical evidence that she did. But that doesn’t mean she didn’t. There’s simply a lack of documentation. Most historians believe the story is apocryphal." —Marc Leepson, author of Flag: An American Biography, The Truth About Betsy Ross

 

• the identity of the woman who sewed America's 1st flag may never be certain, but there is good reason to believe that its designer may have been Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791) • the NJ representative to the Continental Congress & signer of the Declaration of Independence is the only person entered into the Congressional record for designing the 1st American flag

 

• it has been speculated that on 14 June, 1777, it was Hopkinson who replaced the British crosses in the Continental Colors with white stars on a blue field • no original sketch of a Hopkinson flag exists, but surviving rough sketches including his design for the Great Seal of the U.S. incorporate elements of 2 of his flag designs —Wikipedia

 

On 25 May, 1780, Hopkinson wrote to the Continental Board, requesting "a Quarter Cask of the public Wine" as payment for several itemized "patriotic designs" he had completed, most notably, "the flag of the United States of America" • submitted another bill on 24 June for "drawings and devices," including "the Naval Flag of the United States"

 

• the Treasury Board rejected his request for payment because he "was not the only person consulted on those exhibitions of Fancy" & furthermore was not entitled to compensation as he was already on the government payroll —Did Francis Hopkinson Design Two Flags?, Earl P. Williams, Jr.

 

• Hopkinson is also considered America's 1st poet-composer • written at age 21, his song My Days have been so Wondrous Free (1759) is regarded as the earliest surviving American secular composition [listen] —UPen•edu

 

Saving Betsy's House

 

• by 1859, 239 Arch St. was occupied by the family of German immigrant (Carl) Philip Mund (1822-1883), who operated a tailor's shop on the 1st floor • the landlord, after collecting rent for the first year, never returned • over the succeeding rent-free decades, the Munds operated a variety of businesses in their retail space

 

• after Canby's 1870 speech identified the location of Betsy Ross's house as Arch between 2nd & 3rd, the Munds — occupants of the block's last standing colonial house — posted a sign: "First Flag of the US Made in this House" • in 1876, as visitors poured into the city for the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, the Munds ran an ad for their latest 1st floor business: "Original Flag House, Lager, Wine and Liquors. This is the house where the first United States flag was made by Mrs. John Ross." —Historic Philadelphia

 

• after Philip Mund died his wife Amelia, who objected to running a saloon, converted the space into a cigar store & candy shop which operated until 1892 — her son Charles then devoted the space to a museum/souvenir shop [photo] —The Betsy Ross House Facts, Myths, and Pictures by G.A. Anderson

 

• c. 1897 citizens led by Charles Weisgerber organized the American Flag Soc. & Betsy Ross Memorial Assn. • goal was to rescue the house from imminent demolition • intended to purchase it from Charles Mund, restore it to its 18th-c. appearance, preserve the memory of Betsy Ross & honor the American flag

 

• to raise the funds for purchasing the Betsy Ross "American Flag House," the Association devised a rudimentary multi-level marketing strategy • sold lifetime memberships for 10 cents • each member was encouraged to recruit others & form a group of 30; each group founder received a chromolithographograph of Weisgerber's painting • over 2 million monochrome certificates were sold at ten cents each • the colorful chromoliths were available at addl. cost (frame not included) —Enjoying Philadelphia

 

• the Association leased the house in 1898, purchased it in 1903 • Weisgerber & his family moved in • lived upstairs, kept the museum & a souvenir shop on the 1st floor • in 1902 they named their newborn son Charles Vexil Domus, Latin for "flag house" [photo] • he would later replace his parents as custodian of the house —G.A. Anderson, loc. cit.

 

• by 1936 the house was on the verge of ruin • in 1937 Philadelphia Mayor Davis Wilson proposed a restoration by WPA workers • this provoked "a storm of protest" from critics

 

• Pennsylvania Historical Soc. members wrote off the Betsy Ross story as "hokum" and "the bunk" • the protests from scholars & historians sparked an unwinnable faith vs. reason culture war with patriotic organizations such as the Daughters of the American Revolution & the Patriotic Order Sons of America

 

• amid the controversy, Philadelphia radio manufacturer & philanthropist A. Atwater Kent (1873-1949) offered to pay up to $25K for the restoration • Historical architect, Richardson Brognard Okie (1875-1945) won the commission

 

• the design for the restoration was derived from evidence & conjecture • goal was to return the bldg. to its c. 1777 appearance • surviving architectural elements were preserved when possible • materials salvaged from demolished colonial era homes were also used • in 1941, the Association gave the property to the city • the house now stands as one of Philadelphia's most popular tourist attractions

 

Postscript

 

• in 1929 Hugg's tavern, where Betsy Griscom defied family & church to marry John Ross, was demolished to make way for the Proprietor's Park swimming pool, which no longer exists • the Revolutionary War-era Hugg-Harrison-Glover House (1764), built on property owned by the Hugg family as early as 1683, was razed in the face of fervent opposition, March, 2017 —Facebook

 

• 178 yrs. after Betsy's wedding & just 5 blocks from where Hugg's once stood, another American legend was born at the Twin Bar [photo] when Bill Haley (and the Saddlemen) performed there in the early 1950s [poster] • in 1952 Haley's band laid down a cover of Rock the Joint [listen], an historic 1949 recording by Jimmy Preston & His Prestonians [listen] • each of these recordings has been cited as a candidate for the title of first rock 'n' roll song • Gloucester City thus became one of several U.S. sites that claims the title "Cradle of Rock 'n Roll"

 

Charles H. Weisgerber died in 1932 • his magnum opus, The Birth of the American Flag lay rolled up & hidden away in a barn loft & later in the back of a South Jersey dye-making workshop • his grandson Stuart (son of Vexil Domus) found it — still rolled up — in his mother's basement • its poor condition precluded exhibition: in the 50s, hanging in the old State Museum at Harrisburg, it had been vandalized, then incurred additional damage from repeated unrolling

 

• Weisgerber sought a Philadelphia home for the massive work but was unsuccessful • after a $40K restoration in 2002 the painting, it's appraised market value just $50K, returned to the State Museum at Harrisburg

 

• in 1976 the remains of Betsy Ross & 3rd husband John Claypoole were moved from Mount Moriah cemetery, Yeadon, PA, to the garden on the west side of the Betsy Ross House courtyard

Replacing an earlier photo from Feb-16 with a better version.

 

The original 'United for Wildlife' special livery.

 

First flown with the Airbus test registration F-WWAM in Jan-13, the aircraft was ferried to the Airbus factory at Hamburg-Finkenwerder for interior fitout and painting. It was delivered to Emirates as A6-EEI in Jun-13. Current, updated 10-Oct-22.

Among the vintage vehicles present at the depot open day held on August 7th is ECW bodied Leyland Olympian B521 UWW, Yorkshire Coastliner number 421. New in 1985 in Coastliner livery, this passed to York briefly between 1989 and 1990 before going to Harrogate and returning to Coastliner for the spring of 1992, then to Keighley in April 1992 where it resided until withdrawl from service in 2013.

The Yorkshire Coastliner operation as a seperate entity came into being in 1990, with the existing vehicles having been repainted into their 2nd livery for the operation, of which 421 in the photo is depicted wearing. These WYRCC Olympians stayed at malton until being replaced in 1992 by Northern Counties Leyland Olympians with private registrations (K2YCL-K7YCL, 402-407).

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

 

Some background:

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber, designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades.

Beginning with the successful contract bid in June 1946, the B-52 design evolved from a straight wing aircraft powered by six turboprop engines to the final prototype YB-52 with eight turbojet engines and swept wings. The B-52 took its maiden flight in April 1952. Built to carry nuclear weapons for Cold War-era deterrence missions by the United States Air Force (USAF), the B-52 Stratofortress replaced the Convair B-36. A veteran of several wars, the B-52 has dropped only conventional munitions in combat, capable of carrying up to 70,000 pounds (32,000 kg) of weapons.

 

The B-52 has been in active service with the USAF since 1955. The bombers flew under the Strategic Air Command (SAC) until it was inactivated in 1992 and its aircraft absorbed into the Air Combat Command (ACC). In 2010 all B-52 Stratofortresses were transferred from the ACC to the new Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC).

 

Superior performance at high subsonic speeds and relatively low operating costs have kept the B-52 in service despite the advent of later, more advanced aircraft, including the canceled Mach 3 B-70 Valkyrie, the variable-geometry B-1 Lancer, and the stealth B-2 Spirit. The B-52 has so far completed sixty years of continuous service with its original operator, and after being upgraded between 2013 and 2015, it is expected to serve with the USAF even into the 2040s, maybe even beyond that.

 

The only foreign operator of the B-52 had been the Royal Air Force in the 1980ies and 19990ies, and just in a small number. After the USAF's retirement of the earlier B-52 types, the remaining G and H models were used for nuclear standby ("alert") duty as part of the United States' nuclear triad. This triad was the combination of nuclear-armed land-based missiles, submarine-based missiles and manned bombers.

 

After the end of the Falkland War, the Royal Air Force withdrew its final long-range bomber type, the Avro Vulcan - which was to be replaced by the MRCA Tornado which was designed to a totally different tactical profile. Fearing the loss of international influence, the Ministry of Defence decided to fill this gap and leased twelve revamped and heavily modified B-52Gs from the USA. This was a convenient deal for both sides, since these bombers were earmarked to be scrapped per the terms of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).

 

These modified aircraft were designated B-52K by Boeing, while the RAF officially called them later in service Stratofortress B.I, even though B-52K was more common. Most obvious change was the introduction of new engines. The B-52K benefited from a Boeing study for the U.S. Air Force in the mid-1970s which investigated replacing the original TF33 engines, changing to a new wing, and other improvements to upgrade B-52G/H aircraft as an alternative to the B-1A, then in development. Boeing had suggested re-engining the complete USAF B-52 fleet with four Rolls-Royce RB211 535E-4 each. The RB211 had originally been developed for the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar in the early 1970ies, but also saw use with several Boeing airliners, the "535" being a special development for the 757 airliner.

 

This new, bigger engine would not only improve overall weight and power (total thrust 8× 17,000 lb vs .4× 37,400 lb), it would also increase range and reduce fuel consumption and simplify the whole aircraft. Despite these direct benefits the USAF did not opt for this offer: the costs for aircraft modifications, infrastructure, logistics and also for the running operations of the complete fleet would have been prohibitively high, as well as only a partial conversion. For the UK, where the weapon system was to be introduced from scratch and also on a much smaller scale, the update made sense, though.

Boeing supported the British project, since the company expected to present the UK conversion as a field case study for potential later large-scale sales to the USAF. This included extensive wind tunnel testing, in order to optimize the engine pylons. These tests also demonstrated that the new four-engined aircraft may not have enough rudder authority to counter the adverse yaw generated by an outboard engine-out scenario. As a consequence, an enlarged fin was (re-)introduced, even though it was different from the earlier B-52 variants. Actually, as a cost saving measure, fin elements from the Boeing 747 airliner were used - and its integral tank enhanced the overall fuel capacity even further.

 

The ex-USAF B-52Gs converted into K models were taken from surplus stock that not been modified into cruise missile carriers, they were rather conventional bombers with nuclear capabilities - its main purpose for the RAF. A secondary role were martime operations like mine laying or missile attacks against surface ships over long distances.

 

Hence, the RAF aircraft underwent a series of modifications to improve conventional bombing and to adapt them to RAF standards. They were fitted with a new Integrated Conventional Stores Management System (ICSMS) and new underwing pylons that could hold larger bombs or other stores, including up to twelve AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles. The B-52K also introduced new radios, integrated Global Positioning System into the aircraft's navigation system and replaced. The under-nose FLIR was retained, even though with a modernized system. A fixed refluelling probe for the RAF's drogue system was installed on top of the cockpit section (earn ing the B-52K the nickname "unicorn"), and the tail gun station was deleted and replaced with ECM equipment and flare/chaff dispensers.

 

Delivery started in 1990, and the B-52K was just too late to become operational during the First Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm), in which RAF Tornados took part in, though, as well as USAF B-52s. In fact, the modified BUFF took three years to become fully operational, despite - or perhaps because of - the small fleet. In parallel, the Tornado was gradually introduced, too.

Eventually, the B-52Ks were baptized with fire: in 1999, when 'Operation Allied Force' began and USAF and RAF bombers bombarded Serb targets throughout the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - even though with mixed success, since more than 600 of the 1.000 bombs dropped by the RAF during the Kosovo conflict missed their target, the Ministry of Defence admitted in 2000.

 

In 2003 the B-52Ks also took part in the invasion of Iraq as part of 'Operation Telic'. The Iraqi Forces were unable to mobilize their air force to attempt a defense, and the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps and Naval Aviation, as well as the Royal Air Force, operated with impunity throughout the country, pinpointing heavily defended resistance targets and destroying them before ground troops arrived.

 

This success reinstated the B-52K's performance reputation a little, but could not deny the fact that the global political situation had changed since the fall of the Soviet Union, and that the heavy bomber was a concept of the past. Furthermore, the changing character of conflicts and the respective mission profiles made the British MoD in 2004 decide to retire the small, costly B-52K fleet, of which four aircraft had already to be grounded due to the end of their airframe lifetime. Consequently, all B-52Ks were scrapped until 2005.

 

Besides, the program results did not change the USAF's decision to keep the B-52H with its eight engine layout in service.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 5 (pilot, copilot, Weapon Systems Officer, navigator, Electronic Warfare Officer)

Length: 159 ft 4 in (48.5 m)

Wingspan: 185 ft 0 in (56.4 m)

Height: 42 ft (12.8 m)

Wing area: 4,000 sq ft (370 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 63A219.3 mod root, NACA 65A209.5 tip

Zero-lift drag coefficient: ~0,0119

Drag area: 47,60 sq ft (4,42 m²)

Aspect ratio: 8,56

Fuel capacity: 48.630 U.S. gal (40.495 imp gal; 181.090 l)

Empty weight: 185.000 lb (83.250 kg)

Loaded weight: 265.000 lb (120.000 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 488.000 lb (220.000 kg)

 

Powerplant:

4× Rolls-Royce RB211 535E-4 turbofan jet engines, rated at 17.000 kp (37.400 lb) each

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 560 kn (650 mph, 1.047 km/h)

Cruise speed: 442 kn (525 mph, 844 km/h)

Combat radius: 4.750 mi (4.125 nmi, 7.650 km)

Ferry range: 10.715 mi (9.300 nmi, 17.250 km)

Service ceiling: 50.000 ft (15.000 m)

Rate of climb: 6.270 ft/min (31,85 m/s)

Wing loading: 120 lb/ft² (586 kg/m²)

Thrust/weight: 0.31

Lift-to-drag ratio: 21.5 (estimated)

Armament:

Approximately 70.000 lb (31.500 kg) mixed ordnance; bombs, mines, missiles, in various

configurations in an internal bomb bay and/or on wing pylons

 

Avionics:

Electro-optical viewing system that uses platinum silicide forward looking infrared and high

resolution low-light-level television sensors

LITENING Advanced Targeting System

Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod

IBM AP-101 computer

 

The kit and its assembly:

I remember that I read about the re-engine project of the USAF's late B-52 versions when I was in school, many years ago, and the BUFF is still flying - even though in its original eight engine layout. Anyway, I wonder why this topic has not been adopted by modelers more often? O.K., a B-52 is a large aircraft, but there are good small scale version around, like the Dragon kit in 1:200 which I converted.

 

Work was pretty straightforward, and the basis is/was a B-52G. The kit was built almost OOB, only mods include:

- engine nacelles from a Hasegawa Boeing 747-400

- the upper section of the latter's fin, too

- a scratched refuelling probe

- a modified tail without the four machine guns

 

Fit is good and surface structure/details are more than satisfactory for a kit of this small scale. Only thing that bugged me was the slightly tinted canopy that is a bit too wide for the fuselage, it's hard to blend it into the rest of the body. Another building horror were the 24 itsy-tiny bombs for the quadruple MERs under the wings.

 

Integrating the Jumbo nacelles was easier than expected, even though, after finishing the conversion, I'd recommend reducing the height of the outer pyolns by 2-3 mm, so that the engines come higher and closer to the wings. Space to the ground is very little - and to mend this I lengthened the outrigger wheels slightly.

 

Another issue were the wing parts - the left wing was slightly warped, upwards, and even though I tried to bend and force it into a stright line it somehow move back into its original position, so that a B-52 on the ground was hard to realize. If you build one, tuck the landing gear up and put it on a stand. It looks better, anyway... ;)

  

Painting and markings

This was the fun part. A B-52 with four bigher jet engines is one thing, and at first I intended to create a contemporary USAF aircraft. But then I remembered the weird Hemp apint scheme for large RAF birds like the Nimrod, VC.10 or Tristar tankers, and I wondered if that could not be applied to a B-52 in "foreign service"...?

 

Said and done, and from there things unfolded in a straightforward fashion. The only consequence of the RAF as useer was the refuelling probe, and the 340kg iron bombs that came as ordnance with the kit were a welcome option, too.

 

Even though Hemp is available from Humbrol (168) I rather used a darker tone, 187. Hemp was later used for shading, though. The undersides were painted in Barley Grey (Humbrol 167) and shaded with Light Ghost Grey (FS 36375, Humbrol 127), after a light wash with highly thinned black ink. Radomes and antennae received a yellow-ish, beige finish, the landing gear and the air intakes were painted white, as well as the MERs.

 

Decals come from several kits, e .g. a Cyber Hobby 1:200 Vulcan, a Matchbox Hawk 200 and a Tornado sheet from the Operation Allied Force era (the nose art was taken from there, as well as the ZA447 code).

  

A relatively simple whif - the large engine nacelles look strange and demonstrate how slender the B-52's body actually is, compared with an airliner. But the Hemp/Grey livery suits it very well, and the pics taken from above show how effective this scheme is when the aircraft is parked on a concrete airfield - and it is even effective in the air!

 

This is where the gorgeous murciélago SV used to be. (look back in my gallery) Now there is this 458 Italia. Why? The SV needed to be checked due to a technical problem so it's now in Lamborghini Beirut.

But pending its return he just had to choose from one of his many cars in UAE and brought it here :)

 

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Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 27-Oct-19.

 

Named: "Ashkelon", later "Eilat Red Sea" (Feb-11).

 

First flown with the Boeing test registration N1786B, this aircraft was delivered to El Al Israel Airlines as 4X-EKD in Aug-99.

 

It was withdrawn from service in Jan-16, sold to Capstar Aviation as N259CS and permanently retired at Tucson, AZ, USA later the same month. It was subsequently broken up.

Sydney Central Railway Station, in Sydney, Australia.

 

The present Central Railway Station was Sydney's third terminus, replacing the original 1855 station further south in Redfern and a later upgraded station built in the 1870s. Both earlier stations had served their time but had become too small and too isolated from the city by the 1890s.

 

A new station had been considered since 1895, with a view to locating the terminal closer to the central business district. Several sites and schemes were put forward, including a Hyde Park terminus, before the site of the old Devonshire Street cemetery was fixed upon. Although this site was also considered to be further from the city centre than was preferred, the costs of resumptions and construction of a station in the city centre were too high. Resumptions were still necessary even for this construction, which included the widening of Pitt Street and creation of Eddy Avenue.

 

Work began on the Central Railway Station in June 1901, 12 months after the state public works committee had approved the design. The new building was intended as a focal point for the railway and a junction of the rural network with the expanding city and suburban networks. The initial scheme for the new terminal complex was put together by Henry Deane, the Engineer-in-Chief of Railway Construction, in consultation with the Railway Commissioners.

 

The design of the buildings and complex were investigated by a Station Advisory Board established by the Minister for Works. This included Henry Deane, Government Architect Walter Liberty Vernon and railway experts from New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria.

 

Work continued through 1901–02, with the old buildings removed and the cemetery resumed. The foundation stone was laid on 30 April 1902. Material excavated from the site was subsequently used to improve the adjacent Prince Alfred and Belmore parks, and to form a ramp for an overhead tramway that approached the station from the city.

 

In 1902 the design of the building was altered by the Station Advisory Board, with the addition of an extra floor and a tower, which increased the likely cost from £230,000 to £400,000. The station building would therefore include: offices for the Railway Commissioners; underground subways to convey luggage, mail, and other materials; an underground pedestrian walkway between George and Elizabeth streets on the line of the former Devonshire Street; a tramway; taxi ranks; and 12 platforms with the ability to handle up to 40,000 passengers.

 

The position of the station at the southern end of the city and its scale made it an instant landmark, with the clock in the tower being used by surrounding neighbourhoods as well as commuters.

 

Information Source:

dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/central_railway_station

 

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 19-Mar-17, plus DeNoise AI 15-Nov-22.

 

Named: "Star Jet - Sirius".

 

This aircraft was delivered to Japan Airlines as JA8981 in Dec-95. It was transferred to Japan Airlines - International when JAL split their operations between 'Domestic' and 'International' fleets in Apr-04.

 

'International' was dropped from the titles in Apr-11 when it became Japan Airlines again. The aircraft continued in operation until it was retired in May-14. It was stored at Goodyear, AZ, USA and permanently retired the following month. It was broken up at Goodyear in Oct-14.

Replacing an earlier scanned slide with a better version 28-Oct-15.

 

Delivered new to Kuwait Airways as 9K-ACA in Jan-63, the aircraft was wet-leased to MEA Middle East Airlines in Dec-68, returning to Kuwait Airways in Jun-69. It was sold to Dan-Air London in Mar-71 and became G-AYWX the following month. It was retired at Dan-Air's engineering base at Lasham, UK, in May-78 and was broken up there in Oct-79.

Man replacing bulbs on 1st Avenue in Seattle

Replacing the usual Boeing 787-9.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 11-Jul-17, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 29-Sep-23.

 

'Sun Newspaper' and 'News of the World' logojet, right side.

 

This aircraft was delivered to Lufthansa as D-ABFC in Dec-80. It was sold to JetsVentures and sold to Ryanair as EI-CNT in Dec-96.

 

It was sold to AutoDirect Aviation Inc as N115AD in Oct-05 and leased to LAN Airlines (Chile) as CC-CQQ the following week. The aircraft was returned to Wells Fargo Bank Northwest as N215AG in May-08 and was stored at Jakarta-CGK, Indonesia.

 

It was repainted in Adam Air livery the following month but the lease didn't happen and it remained stored until it was leased to RUTACA Venezuela as YV379T in Nov-08.

 

The aircraft was withdrawn from use and permanently retired at Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela in Nov-11 after 31 years in service.

replaced my asics nimbus with saucony progrid ride. can't quite believe the colour scheme. effing mint green laces!

to good times though, my ugly new friends. oh, the place we'll run.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version.

 

Operated on behalf of Air France by TAT - Touraine Air Transport.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 21-Jan-20.

 

Named: "Rolf Viking".

 

This aircraft was delivered to SAS Scandinavian Airlines as OY-KGF in Mar-69. It was wet-leased to Itavia (Italy) between Jul/Oct-80. It was sold to a lessor in Feb-98 and leased back to SAS. The aircraft was returned to the lessor in Nov-00, after almost 32 years in service, and sold the same day to Thomson Detxis as F-WTVH for use as an electronics/avionics testbed based at Bordeaux, France. It was re-registered F-WGRV in Mar-03. Thomson Detxis was renamed Thales Systems Aeroportes SA in Apr-03 and the aircraft was re-registered F-GVTH. It was permanently retired at Bordeaux in early 2010 and the registration was cancelled in Sep-10.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

 

Some background:

The G.91Y was an increased-performance version of the Fiat G.91 funded by the Italian government. Based on the G.91T two-seat trainer variant, the single Bristol Orpheus turbojet engine of this aircraft was replaced by two afterburning General Electric J85 turbojets which increased thrust by 60% over the single-engine variant. Structural modifications to reduce airframe weight increased performance further and an additional fuel tank occupying the space of the G.91T's rear seat provided extra range. Combat manoeuvrability was improved with the addition of automatic leading edge slats. The avionics equipment of the G.91Y was considerably upgraded with many of the American, British and Canadian systems being license-manufactured in Italy.

 

Flight testing of three pre-production aircraft was successful, with one aircraft reaching a maximum speed of Mach 0.98. Airframe buffeting was noted and was rectified in production aircraft by raising the position of the tailplane slightly.

An initial order of 55 aircraft for the Italian Air Force was completed by Fiat in March 1971, by which time the company had changed its name to Aeritalia (from 1969, when Fiat aviazione joined the Aerfer). The order was increased to 75 aircraft with 67 eventually being delivered. In fact, the development of the new G.91Y was quite long, and the first order was for about 20 pre-series examples that followed the two prototypes. The first pre-series 'Yankee' (the nickname of the new aircraft) flew in July 1968.

 

AMI (Italian Air Force) placed orders for two batches, 35 fighters followed by another 20, later cut to ten. The last one was delivered around mid 1976, so the total was two prototypes, 20 pre-series and 45 series aircraft. No immediate export success followed, though, and the Italian G.91Ys’ service lasted until the early '90s as attack/recce machines, both over ground and sea, until the AMX replaced them until 1994.

 

However, upon retirement some G.91Ys were still in good condition and the airframes had still some considerable flight hours left, so that about thirty revamped aircraft were put up for sale from 1992 onwards. At the same time, Poland was undergoing a dramatic political change. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union the Eastern European country immediately turned its political attention westward, including the prospects of joining NATO. The withdrawal of Russian forces based in Poland and partly obsolete military equipment of the Polish forces themselves led to a procurement process from 1991 onwards, which, among others, included a replacement for the Polish MiG-17 (domestic Lim-5, Lim-6 and Lim-6bis types), which had been operated by both Polish air force and navy since the late Sixties, primarily as fighter bombers in their late career, but also for reconnaissance tasks.

 

The G.91Y appeared, even though a vintage design, to be a suitable replacement option, since its performance envelope and the equipment outfit with three cameras in the nose made it a perfect package – and the price tag was not big, either. Especially the Polish Navy showed much interest, and after 10 months of negotiations Poland eventually bought 22 G.91Y from Italy, plus five G.91T two-seaters for conversion training, which were delivered between June 1993 and April 1994.

 

For the new operator the machines only underwent minor modifications. The biggest change was the addition of wirings and avionics for typical Polish Air Force ordnance, like indigenous MARS-2 pods for 16 unguided 57mm S-5 missiles, iron bombs of Russian origin of up to 500 kg (1.100 lb) caliber, SUU-23-2 gun pods as well as R-3 and R-60 missiles (which were very similar to the Western AIM-9 Sidewinder and actually date back to re-engineered specimen obtained by the USSR during the Korea war!). All machines were concentrated at Gdynia-Babie Doły in a newly founded, dedicated fighter bomber of the 1 Naval Aviation Squadron, which also operated MiG-21 fighters and PZL Iskra trainers. The Polish G.91Ys, nicknamed “Polski Fiat” by their crews (due to their compact size and overall simplicity, in reminiscence of the very popular, locally license-built Fiat 126), not only replaced the vintage MiG-17 types and some Polish Navy MiG-21 fighters, but also the handful of MiG-15UTI trainer veterans which were still used by the Polish Navy for observation duties over the Baltic Sea.

 

When Poland joined NATO on 12 March 1999, the G.91Ys (18 were still in service, plus all five trainers) received another major overhaul, a new low-visibility paint scheme, and they were updated with avionics that ensured inter-operability with other NATO forces, e .g. a GPS positioning sensor in a small, dorsal hump fairing. In 2006, when deliveries of 48 F-16C/D fighters to Poland started, the G.91Ys were to be retired within 12 months. But problems with the F-16s’ operability kept the G.91Y fleet active until 2011, when all aircraft were grounded and quickly scrapped.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: one

Length: 11.67 m (38 ft 3.5 in)

Wingspan: 9.01 m (29 ft 6.5 in)

Height: 4.43 m (14 ft 6.3 in)

Wing area: 18.13 m² (195.149 ft²)

Empty weight: 3,900 kg (8,598 lb)

Loaded weight: 7,800 kg (17,196 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 8,700 kg (19,180 lb)

 

Powerplant:

2× General Electric J85-GE-13A turbojets, 18.15 kN (4,080 lbf) each

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1,110 km/h (600 kn, 690 mph, Mach 0.95) at 10,000 m (33,000 ft)

Range: 1,150 km (621 nmi, 715 mi)

Max. ferry range with drop tanks: 3,400 km (2,110 mls)

Service ceiling: 12,500 m (41,000 ft)

Rate of climb: 86.36 m/s (17,000 ft/min)

Wing loading: 480 kg/m² (98.3 lb/ft² (maximum)

Thrust/weight: 0.47 at maximum loading

 

Armament:

2× 30 mm (1.18 in) DEFA cannons with 120 RPG

4× under-wing pylon stations with a capacity of 1,814 kg (4,000 lb)

  

The kit and its assembly:

This whiffy Yankee Gina was inspired by a profile that had popped up during WWW picture search a while ago. Tracking it back, I found it to be artwork created and posted at DeviantArt by user “Jeremak-J”, depicting a G.91Y in polish markings and sporting a two-tone grey camouflage with light blue undersides and a medium waterline. I found the idea bizarre, but attractive, and, after some research, I found a small historic slot that might have made this “combo” possible.

 

When I recently delved through my (growing…) kit pile I came across a Matchbox G.91Y in a squashed box and with a cracked canopy – and decided to use that kit for a personal Polish variant.

The Matchbox G.91Y bears light and shadow galore. While it is IIRC the only IP kit of this aircraft, it comes with some problem areas. The fit of any major kit component is mediocre and the cockpit tub with an integral seat-thing is …unique. But the overall shape is IMHO quite good – a typical, simple Matchbox kit with a mix of (very fine) raised and engraved panel lines.

 

The OOB canopy could not be saved, but I was lucky to find a replacement part in the spares box – probably left over from the first G.91Y I built in the early Eighties. While the donor part had to be stripped from paint and was quite yellowed from age, it saved the kit.

 

It was built almost OOB, since major changes would not make sense in the context of my background story of a cheap 2nd hand purchase for an air force on a lean budget. I just added some details to the cockpit and changed the ordnance, using missile pods and iron bombs of Soviet origin (from a Kangnam/Revell Yak-38).

The exhausts were drilled open, because OOB these are just blank covers, only 0.5 mm deep! Inside, some afterburners were simulated (actually main wheels from an Arii 1:100 VF-1).

The flaps were lowered and extended, which is easy to realize on this kit.

The clumsy, molded guns were cut away, to be later replaced with free-standing, hollow steel needles.

In order to add some more exterior detail I also scratched the thin protector frames around the nozzles with thin wire.

Since the replacement canopy looked quite old and brittle, I did not dare cutting the clear part in two, so that the cockpit remained closed, despite the effort put into the interior.

A personal extra is the pair of chaff/flare dispensers on the rear fuselage, reminiscent of Su-22 installations.

  

Painting and markings:

The inspiring profile was nice, but I found it to be a bit fishy. The depicted tactical code format would IMHO not be plausible for the aircraft’s intended era, and roundels on the fuselage flanks would also long have gone in the Nineties. Therefore, I rather looked at real world benchmarks from the appropriate time frame for my Polish Gina’s livery, even though I wanted to stay true to the artist’s original concept, too.

 

One direction to add more plausibility was the scheme that Polish Su-22 fighter bombers received during their MLU, changing the typical tactical camouflage in up to four hues of green and brown into a much more subdued two tone grey livery with lighter, bluish-grey undersides, combined with toned-down markings like tactical codes in white outlines only. Some late MiG-21s also received this type of livery, and at least one Polish Fishbed instructional airframe received white low-viz national insignia.

 

For the paint scheme itself I used the MiG-21 pattern as benchmark (found in the Planes & Pilots MiG-21 book) and adapted it to the G.91Y as good as possible. The tones were a little difficult to define – some painting instructions recommend FS 36118 (US Gunship Grey) for the dark upper grey tone, but this is IMHO much too murky. Esp. on the Su-22s, the two upper greys show only little contrast, and the lower grey does not stand out much against the upper tones, either. On the other side, I found a picture of a real-life MiG-21U trainer in the new grey scheme, and the contrast between the grey on the upper surfaces appeared much stronger, with the light grey even having a brownish hue. Hmpf.

 

As a compromise I settled for FS 36173 (F-15E Dark Grey) and 36414 (Flint Grey). For the undersides I went for FS 35414 (Blue Green), which comes close to the typical Soviet underside blue, but it is brighter.

After basic painting, the kit received a light black ink wash and subtle post-shading, mostly in order to emphasize single panels, less for a true weathering effect.

The cockpit was painted in Dark Gull Grey (Humbrol 140), with a light blue dashboard and a black ejection seat. The OOB pilot was used and received an olive drab suit with a light grey helmet, modern and toned down like the aircraft itself. The landing gear as well as the air intake interior were painted in different shades of aluminum.

 

The decals were, as so often, puzzled together from various sources. The interesting, white-only Polish roundels come from a Mistercraft MiG-21. I also added them to the upper wing surfaces – this is AFAIK not correct, but without them I found the model to look rather bleak. Under the wings, full color insignia were used, though. The English language “Navy” markings on the fuselage might appear odd, but late MiG-21s in Polish Navy service actually had this operator designation added to their spines!

 

The typical, tactical four-digit code consists of markings for Italian Tornados, taken from two different Italeri sheets. The squadron emblem on the fin came from a Mistercraft Su-22, IIRC.

Most stencils were taken from the OOB sheet, some of them were replaced with white alternatives, though, in order to keep a consistent overall low-viz look.

 

Finally the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

  

An interesting result. Even though this Polish Gina is purely fictional, the model looks surprisingly convincing, and the grey low-viz livery actually suits the G.91Y well.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version.

 

Delivered new to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in Jul-68, it operated for 16 years until it was sold to a leasing company in Mar-84 and leased to Icelandair as TF-FLU. It returned to the lessor in Mar-89 as N820TC and was leased to Trans Continental Airlines two months later. It was returned to the lessor in Dec-90 and stored as N863E. It was converted to freight configuration in Apr-91 and leased to Southern World Airlines in Jul-91. They didn’t have it long and in Oct-91 it returned to the lessor and was leased to American International Airways (Kalitta!). It was re-registered N787AL in Aug-92 but returned to the lessor 2 months later and was immediately leased to ATI Air Transport International. It was re-registered N788AL in May-94 and continued in service with ATI. On return to the lessor in Feb-97 the aircraft was sold to Airborne Express and re-registered N828AX in Nov-97. Airborne Express were renamed ABX Air in Aug-03 and the aircraft continued in service until it was stored at Cincinnati (CVG), OH, USA in Dec-07 . It was sold in Jul-09 to Meridian Airways, Ghana, as 9G-AXC. Meridian Airways ceased operations in 2010.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

History

Name: Köln

Launched: 23 May 1928

Commissioned: January 1930

Fate: Sunk by American aircraft on 3 March 1945

General characteristics [a]

Class and type: Königsberg-class cruiser

Displacement: 7,700 long tons (7,800 t)

Length: 174 m (571 ft)

Beam: 15.3 m (50 ft)

Draft: 6.28 m (20.6 ft)

Propulsion: 3 shafts, two MAN 10-cylinder diesels, four geared turbines

Speed: 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)

Range: 5,700 nmi (10,600 km; 6,600 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)

Complement:

 

21 officers

493 enlisted men

 

Armament:

 

9 × 15 cm SK C/25 guns

2 × 8.8 cm SK L/45 anti-aircraft guns

12 × 50 cm torpedoes

120 mines

 

Armor:

 

Belt: 50 mm (2.0 in)

Deck: 40 mm (1.6 in)

Conning tower: 100 mm (3.9 in)

 

Köln was a light cruiser, the third member of the Königsberg class that was operated between 1929 and March 1945, including service in World War II. She was operated by two German navies, the Reichsmarine and the Kriegsmarine. She had two sister ships, Königsberg and Karlsruhe. Köln was built by the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel; she was laid down in August 1926, launched in May 1928, and commissioned into the Reichsmarine in January 1930. She was armed with a main battery of nine 15 cm SK C/25 guns in three triple turrets and had a top speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph).

 

Like her sister ships, Köln served as a training ship for naval cadets in the 1930s, and joined the non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War during the latter part of the decade. After the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, she conducted several operations in the North Sea, but did not encounter any British warships. She participated in the attack on Bergen during Operation Weserübung in April 1940, and she was the only member of her class to survive the operation. In 1942, she was modified to carry a Flettner Fl 282 helicopter experimentally. Later in 1942, she returned to Norway, but did not see significant action. She remained there until early 1945, when she returned to Germany; in March, she was sunk by American bombers in Wilhelmshaven. She remained on an even keel, with her gun turrets above water; this allowed her to provide gunfire support to defenders of the city until the end of the war in May 1945.

 

Characteristics

Line-drawing of Köln

Main article: Königsberg-class cruiser (1927)

 

Köln was 174 meters (571 ft) long overall and had a beam of 15.2 m (50 ft) and a maximum draft of 6.28 m (20.6 ft). She displaced 7,700 long tons (7,800 t) at full combat load. Her propulsion system consisted of four steam turbines and a pair of 10-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines. Steam for the turbines was provided by six Marine-type double-ended oil-fired boilers. The ship's propulsion system provided a top speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) and a range of approximately 5,700 nautical miles (10,600 km; 6,600 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). Köln had a crew of 21 officers and 493 enlisted men.[1]

 

The ship was armed with nine 15 cm SK C/25 guns mounted in three triple gun turrets. One was located forward, and two were placed in a superfiring pair aft. The rear gun turrets were offset to increase their arc of fire. They were supplied with 1,080 rounds of ammunition, for 120 shells per gun. The ship was also equipped with two 8.8 cm SK L/45 anti-aircraft guns in single mounts; they had 400 rounds of ammunition each. Köln also carried four triple torpedo tube mounts located amidships; they were supplied with twenty-four 50 cm (20 in) torpedoes. She was also capable of carrying 120 naval mines.[2] The ship was protected by an armored deck that was 40 mm (1.6 in) thick amidships and an armored belt that was 50 mm (2.0 in) thick. The conning tower had 100 mm (3.9 in) thick sides.[3]

Service history

 

Köln was ordered as "Cruiser D" under the contract name Ersatz Arcona, as a replacement for the old cruiser Arcona.[3] The keel for Köln was laid on 7 August 1926 at the Kriegsmarinewerft shipyard in Wilhelmshaven. She was launched on 23 May 1928, and commissioned into the Reichsmarine on 15 January 1930, the last member of her class to be completed.[4] She spent the year conducting sea trials and training in the Baltic Sea. In 1931, she was modified with dual 8.8 cm anti-aircraft guns to replace the original single mounts, the rear superstructure was enlarged, and a fire control system was installed aft.[5] Köln departed on a cruise into the Atlantic in early 1932 for more extensive sea trials. After returning to Germany, she took on her first crew of naval cadets for a world cruise, departing Germany in late 1932. The tour lasted a full year; she stopped in ports across the globe, including in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, and the Mediterranean Sea.[6]

 

In 1935, the ship had an aircraft catapult installed, along with cranes to handle float planes. A pole mast was also installed on the rear side of the aft funnel.[5] Köln continued to serve as a training ship until early 1936, when she was transferred to fishery protection duty. Later that year, she joined the non-intervention patrols off Spain during the Spanish Civil War. After the German heavy cruiser Deutschland was attacked by Republican bombers in the so-called "Deutschland incident", Köln transported wounded crew members from Deutschland back to Germany. Köln conducted a further four patrols off Spain before returning to fishery protection in the North Sea in 1938. Late in the year, she went into drydock for a refit in Kiel.[6]

World War II

 

In March 1939, Köln participated in the annexation of Memel which Germany had demanded from Lithuania. Later in the year, she joined the battleship Gneisenau and the heavy cruisers Deutschland, Admiral Scheer, and Admiral Graf Spee for a major series of maneuvers in the Atlantic.[6] In the final days of August, Köln was stationed in the western Baltic to prevent Polish vessels from fleeing after the German invasion of Poland on 1 September; she was unsuccessful in this task. She thereafter joined her sister ships in laying a series of defensive minefields.[7]

 

Köln joined Gneisenau and nine destroyers for a sortie into the North Sea on 7–9 October. The goal was to draw units of the Royal Navy over a U-boat line and into range of the Luftwaffe, though it failed on both counts. The British launched an air attack consisting of 12 Wellington bombers, though it too failed to hit any of the German warships.[8] On 20–22 November, Köln and the cruiser Leipzig escorted the battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst on the first leg of their sortie into the North Atlantic. On the 22nd, Köln and Leipzig were detached to join an unsuccessful patrol for Allied merchant ships in the Skagerrak along with Deutschland and three torpedo boats.[9] The patrol lasted until 25 November, and failed to locate any Allied freighters.[10] On 13 December, Köln, Leipzig, and Nürnberg covered the return of several destroyers that had laid an offensive minefield off Newcastle.[11]

 

Köln took part in Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway, in April 1940. She was assigned Group 3, tasked with the assault on Bergen, along with her sister Königsberg.[12] She reached the harbor unscathed, but Königsberg was not so lucky; she was badly damaged by Norwegian coastal guns. Köln nevertheless supported the German infantry ashore with her main guns. After the port was secured, she returned to Germany, along with a pair of destroyers.[7] In late 1940, she went into drydock for further modifications. A degaussing coil was installed, along with a helicopter landing platform on top of turret "Bruno".[6] She thereafter served as a testbed for the Flettner Fl 282 helicopter, a task she performed until 1942.[13]

 

While still conducting experiments with the FI 282 in September 1941, Köln provided gunfire support to ground troops attacking Soviet positions on Dagö in the Gulf of Riga. She also bombarded Soviet positions on Ristna.[13] She joined the battleship Tirpitz, Admiral Scheer, Nürnberg, and several destroyers and torpedo boats formed the Baltic Fleet, which was intended to block any Soviet warships from fleeing the eastern Baltic. No Soviet vessels attempted to do so, however.[14] On 13 July, the Soviet submarine Shch-322 tried to attack Köln, but the cruiser's escorts forced the Soviet submarine to break off the attack.[15]

Köln sunk in Wilhelmshaven at the end of the war

 

Toward the end of 1941, she was transferred to the North Sea, and went into drydock for her last major modification.[13] This consisted of the installation of a FuMO 21 radar set on the forward command center roof.[6] In July 1942, Köln departed Germany to join the growing naval presence in Norway, though she saw no major action there.[13] On 13 September, she and the heavy cruisers Admiral Scheer and Admiral Hipper and two destroyers attempted to attack Convoy PQ 18. While en route from Narvik to Altenfjord, the flotilla was attacked by the British submarine HMS Tigris, but the torpedoes passed behind the German ships.[16] The convoy was instead attacked by U-boats and long-range bombers, which sank thirteen freighters.[17] She returned to Germany in January 1943, where she was decommissioned in Kiel on 17 February. She was sent to drydock in early 1944 for an overhaul to prepare her to return to combat duty; this was completed by 1 July. The cruiser served briefly as a training ship before escorting German merchant vessels in Norway.[13] While en route from Kristiansand on 7 July, the ship laid a defensive minefield in the Skagerrak. She and three destroyers laid another minefield on 14–15 July, before steaming to Trondheim.[18]

 

On the night of 13–14 December,[19] Köln was attacked by British bombers in Oslofjord; several near misses caused damage to her propulsion system that required repair in Germany.[13] She departed Norway on 23 January 1945 in company with Admiral Hipper and a destroyer, and arrived in Kiel on 8 February.[20] She then proceeded to Wilhelmshaven, where she was again attacked by Allied bombers repeatedly.[13] On 30 March, B-24 Liberators from the Eighth Air Force attacked the harbor;[21] Köln was hit and sank on an even keel. Since her guns remained above water, the ship was used as an artillery battery to defend the city from advancing Allied forces. She served in this capacity until the end of the war in May. She was partially dismantled in situ after the end of the war, and finally raised in 1956 for scrapping.[22]

Replace 13 descriptions

I'll be rebuilding this, replacing the Sand Blue w/Sand Green and the Dark Grey with White, for use atop a structure I'm currently building. You can see how I built it out of four components - a drum/base surmounted by two more hinged rings and then a cap made of slopes, 1x3 plates (mostly), and 1x1 round bricks.

(replaced with a color copy instead of black and white)

Replacing and earlier scanned photo with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 17-Apr-25.

 

This aircraft was delivered to Transair France as N22120 in Dec-97, it was transferred on delivery to Transair USA Inc. They sold it to the Aircraft Credit Corporation in Jan-98 and it was sold on to Kansas Beechcraft Leasing Inc the same day.

 

The aircraft was leased to Proteus Airlines (France) as F-GRPM the following day. Proteus Airlines was merged into Compagne Aerienne Europeenne Regional (Regional Airlines) in Apr-01.

 

It was returned to the lessor in Oct-02 and leased to NAYSA Aero Taxis (Spain) as EC-IJO a few days later. It was wet-leased to Binter Canarias in early 2005 and returned to NAYSA in 2006.

 

The aircraft was returned to the lessor and sold to B & I Aviation (Dubai) in Sep-09. In Oct-09 it was leased to Safari Plus, operating as Safari Express Airways (Tanzania) as 5H-SPB. It was noted at Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania in Jun-18 and appears to have been operational until early Sep-24. No further information. Updated 17-Apr-25.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 02-Sep-17 + DeNoise AI 23-Oct-22

 

The heat haze you can see across the Air Canada A320 and just above the forward fuselage is from a Boeing 747 APU, just off to the left.

 

This aircraft was delivered to ATI Aero Trasporti Italiani as I-ATIH in Dec-71. It was leased to Aermediterranea in May-82 and returned to ATI in Apr-85.

 

In Jul-90, the aircraft was sold to a lessor, leased back to ATI and re-registered I-RIZS. It was returned to the lessor in May-93 and stored at Smyrna, TN, USA.

 

In Sep-94 the aircraft was sold to the CIS Air Corporation as N136AA and remained in storage until it was sold to Jetfleet Aircraft II LLP in Aug-95 and leased to Aero California as XA-TBQ the following month.

 

Aero California suspended operations in Apr-06 and this aircraft was stored (where?). They re-started operations in Aug-06 with just five DC-9-30's but this aircraft remained stored and permanently retired.

 

Aero California was grounded by the Mexican DGAC in Jun-08 and although they re-started again, they ceased operations permanently in Aug-08.